


A fateful, spiritual encounter

by ShortcakeCrow



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa Zero, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, Ghost!Kiibo, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Supernatural Elements, characters and whatnot will be tagged as they appear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-09-23 05:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 57,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9641933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShortcakeCrow/pseuds/ShortcakeCrow
Summary: With the start of his first year at Hope's Peak Academy, Saihara Shuuichi was expecting a lot of things: meeting new and hopefully friendly classmates, diligently studying every day, enjoying a bit of alone time now and again in his room...But what he was definitely not expecting was for him to be sharing that same room with a spirit; one with possibly less social skills than him, no less.If nothing else, the upcoming year was looking to be eventful.





	1. An unusual visitor

Saihara couldn’t remember what time it was when he practically collapsed on top of his bed, fully clothed, too tired to move a muscle, but one thing was for certain: he had somehow slept through the entire afternoon. Not exactly something he was planning on doing on his first day at the academy, but he supposed it might have been inevitable after a night of sleeplessness, too nervous about meeting his classmates to properly get some rest.

He glanced at the clock to confirm his suspicions - it was already past 7. Well, at least he still had a few more hours left to get things done. Lifting himself off the bed, still a bit drowsy from his improvised nap, he stretched his back, then headed towards the bathroom. Better wash himself before he forgets to do it and runs out of time.

After taking a thorough shower, he dried himself off with a towel, and was about to reach for his clothes when he realised he forgot to prepare a clean outfit beforehand. Saihara paused. The bathroom was locked, that wasn’t a problem, but he wasn’t sure if he remembered to lock the door to his room before he passed out earlier. What if somebody walks in on him…? Sure, he had the towel, but that still left the upper half of his body completely uncovered, and he wasn’t the type to be walking around half naked.

Then again, the chances of that happening were… quite slim. And he really would’ve preferred not putting his dirty clothes back on right after showering.

Holding his breath, Saihara slowly opened the bathroom door, towel wrapped around his waist, sticking his head outside to make sure there was absolutely nobody around, then hesitantly stepped outside, quietly closing the door behind him.

 “Ah, you are looking for your sleepwear, correct? Here.”

Saihara wasn’t sure whether it was the unexpected voice of a stranger inside his room, or his pyjamas floating in midair that made him jump, but he let out a bloodcurdling scream, almost falling backwards, had it not been for the door right behind him. Frantically turning his head to find the source of the noise, he was ready to run back into the bathroom and hide for an hour or so, before the stranger from before spoke again.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I did not mean to startle you. I had forgotten that humans cannot see me unless I make myself visible to them first.”

Starting to feel lightheaded from the sudden jump in his heart rate, Saihara didn’t dare move as a faint, translucent cloud appeared before him, slowly forming into what looked like a human - a ghost? Was Saihara really unlucky enough to get the one room that was haunted?

The spirit, resembling a teenage boy with spiky hair and bright blue eyes, offered him his pyjamas again, wearing an apologetic expression.

“I had noticed you didn’t take them with you in the shower, so I thought I should bring them to you instead. It would be a shame if you were to catch a cold already.”

Blinking once, then twice, staring at the spirit with wide eyes, Saihara said the first thing that popped into his mind.

“Does… does that mean you saw me while I was…”

“Oh, I would never do such an indecent thing!” the spirit seemed flustered by that accusation, shaking his head. Saihara’s eyes followed the piece of hair sticking up in the middle, bobbing left and right along with the spirit’s head movements. “I realise I may seem suspicious, but I assure you I fully respect your personal boundaries!”

Finding the situation more and more ridiculous by the moment, Saihara took a deep breath, reaching out for his sleeping attire. He’s not going to have this conversation wearing only a towel. The spirit seemed to light up at that, pleased that he wasn’t freaking out like before.

Though the idea of seeing an actual ghost was still extremely unsettling to him.

After finally putting on his clothes - glancing at the spirit from the corner of his eye to make sure he wasn’t looking -, he went ahead and locked the door, to make sure nobody would witness him talking to himself. That would’ve been a surefire way to assure he had no friends for the next few years.

Sitting down on his bed, he turned back to the spirit, who was still covering his eyes apparently, fully intent on keeping his word. If nothing else, his reserved, albeit awkward attitude was a bit reassuring. Saihara wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if a vengeful spirit or something would’ve jumped him while he was showering. He would probably be paranoid of bathrooms forever.

“Can I remove my hands yet?” the spirit asked nervously, and Saihara let out a barely audible sigh.

“Yeah.”

Making eye contact with the spirit for the second time, Saihara allowed himself to relax slightly, watching the spirit hesitantly floating towards him, stopping at a standard talking distance before bowing deeply.

“I would like to apologise for scaring you again. I would have preferred if your first impression of me hadn’t been an incident of this kind, but…”

His voice trailed off, and he began fidgeting. He almost looked like a normal student Saihara’s age, the way he was trying to explain himself. Well, minus the floating and partial transparency.

“Never mind that for now” Saihara began, his voice dripping with uncertainty, “uhm, if you don’t mind me asking… What exactly… are you?”

The spirit seemed surprised at first, but quickly gave him a smile, introducing himself in a polite tone.

“My name is Kiibo. I will be your roommate for the upcoming year.”

“The upcoming year?” Saihara repeated, his confusion visible on his face. “Wait, but… I mean, are you some kind of ghost, or…?

“Oh” the spirit sheepishly tilted his head to the side, “I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure of that myself.”

After a long, prying stare, Saihara stood up again, opening his mouth and closing it once before speaking up.

“I’ll go get some water.”

The spirit, Kiibo, nodded understandingly, and Saihara left the room with mechanical steps, heading towards the kitchen.

On his way there, he said hello to the hard at work Toujou - who appeared to be sweeping the hallway and returned his greeting with a polite wave -, and was in the middle of filling a glass with water when he was slapped on the back by Momota, almost dropping the glass in the process.

“Yo, Saihara, right? You disappeared after the entrance ceremony, everyone was wondering where you’d run off to!”

His loud voice made Saihara’s head hurt even more.

Laughing at Saihara’s stunned expression, Momota crossed his arms, grinning.

“What’s the matter? You look like you saw a ghost.”

If only he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY I HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I WANT THIS TO BE it was just gonna be a oneshot but it got out of hand  
> ill probably update this until its done instead of writing new drabbles for a while, pray for me lads


	2. The plot thickens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thinking of chapter titles is legit the worst thing ever but i hate leaving chapters untitled so yall can laugh at my pain while i take an hour to think of a title that sounds alright

Having cleared his head a little bit, Saihara opened the door to his room, peering inside. Kiibo was exactly where Saihara had left him; he was spacing out absentmindedly, staring at the wall. Once he noticed Saihara, however, his distraught expression disappeared without a trace. Saihara almost felt bad for just walking out like that.

“Ah, you’ve returned” Kiibo remarked, traces of relief in his voice. He must have been worried Saihara left for good - not that he could blame Kiibo for that. “Did you manage to get properly hydrated?”

“Yeah.”

Go on, Shuuichi, summon your conversational skills.

“Uhm, I don’t think I’ve told you my name yet… I’m Saihara Shuuichi.”

Unable to hide his joy at Saihara’s attempt of a casual introduction, Kiibo smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Saihara.”

Saihara nodded. So far so good.

After a short moment of thinking, he walked up to the bag he’d simply placed next to the bed upon his arrival, digging around a bit to pull out a notebook and a pen. Pulling out the chair from under the desk next to him, he sat down, turning his attention back to Kiibo. Clicking the pen repeatedly, he opened the notebook.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions - unless you have any objections.”

Giving him a curious look, Kiibo nodded, and Saihara tapped his chin with the bottom of the pen before continuing.

“So, you said your name was Kiibo… Is that your first or last name?”

“I’m not sure” Kiibo replied after a moment of hesitation, starting to fidget once more. “I do not remember much about the past - before I took on this form. I only recall being referred to by that name, and… a bright light, right before I found myself like this.”

Well, that didn’t sound unsettling in the slightest.

“What do you mean by ‘a bright light’?” Saihara asked, jotting down some notes already. Kiibo, trying his best to do it as subtly as possible and failing miserably, slowly floated closer, attempting to see what he was writing. Saihara didn’t comment on it.

“I’m sorry, my memory of it appears to be rather blurry” Kiibo apologised, averting his gaze for a few seconds. “I believe it was similar to the kind a flashlight would emit, if that is of any help…”

A flashlight, huh?

Eyebrows furrowed, Saihara moved on to the next question, hoping he would be able to get a more specific answer this time.

“How long have you been like this?”

“A little over three years” Kiibo replied straight away, seemingly pleased that he was finally able to respond properly. Letting out a low, barely audible hum, Saihara resumed his scribbling.

“And you’ve been staying in this room since then?”

“Well…” Kiibo seemed a bit embarrassed. “Actually, I have not been able to leave this room. I have attempted several times, but it’s as if there’s some sort of invisible barrier that is preventing me from it.”

Saihara raised a brow.

“Can’t you just float through the wall or something?”

Kiibo shook his head.

“Unfortunately, as you may have observed, I am unable to pass through solid objects… or living things.”

Saihara’s hand stopped moving at that, and Kiibo stared at him with an uncertain expression as he processed this new bit of information. If Kiibo couldn’t phase through ‘living things’, as he said… would that include Saihara himself? Does that mean he would be able to touch him?

Saihara was hesitant to ask for permission, but his curiosity proved to be stronger in the end, so after turning the sentence over multiple times in his mind, wondering if there was a way to make it sound less ambiguous, he spoke up so suddenly he actually made Kiibo flinch.

“Can I touch you?”

A bright red color flooding his cheeks, Kiibo’s eyes widened, and his voice jumped an entire octave as he all but shouted.

“T-that- I do not think that would be appropriate, considering the current situation!”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Saihara was quick to clarify, ignoring the way his face was heating up. He sort of knew that was coming, but that didn’t make it any less awkward. “I was just wondering if I’d be able to make physical contact… a handshake or something similar would suffice.”

“O-oh, I see…” Kiibo seemed to calm down at that, although his embarrassment remained. Saihara fought the urge to bury his head in his hands and let out a silent scream. His own social awkwardness really wasn’t helping with the situation.

Once he realised Saihara wouldn’t say anything else until he either agreed to it or refused, Kiibo reluctantly moved towards him, until he was close enough for Saihara to be able to reach. He slowly raised one of his hands, holding it out for Saihara to grab, with the aura of a tiny child greeting an adult. It was kind of endearing, in a way, and Saihara felt himself relax considerably as he lifted a hand, carefully placing it in Kiibo’s.

It was a rather strange experience. Kiibo’s hand felt solid - as though he wasn’t some kind of translucent spirit with the ability to fly -, and it was unexpectedly warm. It was noticeably softer and smoother than a human’s hand though, and once he managed to take a closer look, Saihara was quite certain there were no lines on it whatsoever.

Saihara wondered if his feet were the same way as well - not that it would matter much, seeing as how apart from his faded gray hoodie and pants, Kiibo was also wearing a pair of sneakers, so even if he _did_ leave footprints it would be from his shoes… But the detective could still feel a pressing need to uncover all of the spirit’s secrets, as though he was solving a puzzle.

He finally let go of Kiibo’s hand, immediately missing the warmth after breaking contact, but brushing that thought to the back of his mind without dwelling on it too much. He had more important things to deal with.

Picking his pen up, he continued the questioning, Kiibo diligently answering everything he was capable of.

Apparently the previous owner of the room had been a strange guy who had been rather fond of fortune telling - which explained the pack of tarot cards Saihara had found in one of the drawers earlier -, but unlike Saihara, was unable to have an actual conversation with Kiibo, screaming and running away every time they crossed paths, to the point where Kiibo had given up on trying and made himself invisible again. Saihara felt a little bad at Kiibo’s disappointed frown while he recounted the story. After talking to him this much, he was sure Kiibo meant no harm; he couldn’t even imagine him hurting a fly.

Once Kiibo finished informing him about everything noteworthy that had happened to him prior to his meeting with Saihara - which really wasn’t much -, Saihara asked him about his abilities. He was able to turn invisible at will after all; it wouldn’t have been that weird for him to possess other supernatural powers… But Kiibo denied everything Saihara could think of: he couldn’t make things other than himself fly, he couldn’t change his appearance apart from his visibility, he couldn’t teleport, and most importantly, he couldn’t read minds - which Saihara was extremely glad about. It seemed the only things he were capable of were the floating and disappearing.

Saihara opened his mouth to move onto another topic just as the announcement for nighttime was made, and he realised how much time had passed. Kiibo didn’t seem bothered in the slightest, but Saihara couldn’t help but suspect that he may have tired him out by bombarding him with question after question, so he decided to stop for now. He had enough notes to start theorizing anyway.

“I think you should go to bed early today” Kiibo said, following the detective with his eyes as he put the notebook and pen back inside the bag and began unpacking his clothes from his suitcase. “You fell asleep so suddenly when you arrived… You must be exhausted, and I do not think starting your second day with an insufficient amount of rest would be a good idea.”

Nor did Saihara, so he didn’t raise any objections.

Having finished arranging everything, standing in front of his bed, he hesitantly turned to Kiibo.

“You… won’t watch me while I’m sleeping, right?”

“Oh, please do not worry about that. I will make sure to turn my back while you are asleep” Kiibo reassured him with a smile, turning around to prove his point. Knowing that it wouldn’t do him any good to keep worrying about it, Saihara reluctantly switched off the lights and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. He was only hoping he could manage to fall asleep, unused to sharing a room with someone else.

Before he closed his eyes, he heard Kiibo softly whisper.

“Goodnight, Saihara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly if i was keeb id turn around and watch saihara anyway once he fell asleep  
> but there you have it! next chapter we shall join shuuichi on his quest to get to know his classmates and make some friends, and hopefully figure some more things out about his new buddy  
> on a sidenote i know for a fact that ill be able to update tomorrow, but im not sure if i can update every single day after that since the chapters for these are gonna be longer than the usual drabbles i write. ill still try, but im giving yall a heads up in case somethin comes up


	3. The mage and her knight

“Say, have you heard any rumors about a dorm room that’s… haunted?”

As much as he tried to make it sound casual, Saihara was still a bit worried that someone would get suspicious of his question or make fun of him for it - and with good reason, apparently; Ouma had somehow snuck up on him while he was conversing with Momota, poking his head in between them, his voice loud and clear.

“I didn’t take you for someone to believe in ghost stories, Saihara!” he snickered as Momota shoved him to the side. The two of them didn’t seem to get along very well.

“Oh, uhm, actually…” Saihara fumbled for words, trying to come up with a believable explanation. “I heard some students talking about it yesterday, and I was curious if you knew anything about it. It’s not like I believe in ghosts or anything…”

“I haven’t” Momota said, holding a flailing Ouma at arm’s length. “You might wanna ask Yumeno, though; she looks like the type to know about spooky stuff like this.”

Saihara shared that sentiment.

Freeing himself from Momota’s clutches by dodging to the side, Ouma interrupted their conversation once again, bending down and turning his head towards Saihara so he could look at him from under his hat.

“Ooh, you gonna investigate? Sounds like you’ll live up to the title of detective!” he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement. Before Saihara could react, though, Ouma’s childish grin morphed into a more sinister-looking smirk as he lifted Saihara’s hat up ever so slightly. “I’m sure the smell of a lie is only my imagination.”

Saihara instinctively stepped back, startled, and Ouma straightened up with his hat in his hand, giggling.

“Well, either way, good luck! Feel free to tell me if you run into any ghosts!”

“I thought you didn’t believe in them” Momota remarked, and Ouma shrugged dramatically as he placed Saihara’s hat back on his head.

“Who knows? I’m a liar, after all.”

And off he went, as suddenly as he’d appeared. Despite not knowing his classmates for very long, Saihara could already tell Ouma would be the most troublesome to deal with; he loved sticking his nose into other people’s business, and he even managed to instantly see through his lie. He should probably try and avoid him until he solves the situation with Kiibo.

“Man, he’s such a weirdo!” Momota complained, leaning on top of a desk with an annoyed expression. “How does a guy like that have any followers?”

Saihara wondered the same thing; he supposed Ouma could have been lying about his talent, but even then, would he really be able to fool the school committee? Surely, a lie of that sort would be easily figured out… right?

Then again, maybe it was better if he had no idea. He was very certain Ouma wouldn’t react well if someone were to uncover any of his secrets.

“I don’t think you should humor him so much” Saihara suggested, quickly fixing his hat. “He seems to enjoy getting a rise out of people. If you give him the reaction he wants he’ll just bother you more later.”

“So what, I should just let him do what he wants?” Momota didn’t seem to like that option very much. Saihara could sympathize; it was hard to imagine any of them outwitting a guy like Ouma. But it wasn’t like he had any better ideas.

“Well, let’s just forget about him for now” Saihara said with a nervous smile. He had more important things to be worrying about as of now.

\------------------------------------

Approaching Yumeno was much harder than he thought it would be. Not because she seemed to be in a permanent state of drowsiness, but rather, because of the two other girls following her around everywhere, leaving next to no openings for Saihara to speak to her. What’s more, Tenko, the tallest of the trio, seemed to be holding quite a few grudges against men, and Saihara was sure she wouldn’t hesitate to use one of her moves on him if she deemed him a threat to Yumeno or Angie.

Still, he couldn’t afford to wait forever; Kiibo was counting on him, and Saihara didn’t like letting people down - not to mention he was itching to solve the mystery himself -, so he took it upon himself to call out to Yumeno at the start of lunch break, intent on having a quick word with her before Tenko could stop him by bending him in half.

Upon having her name practically shouted, Yumeno lifted her sleepy head off her desk, her gaze stopping on Saihara as he walked up to her.

“Uhm, I was wondering if we could have a quick chat” Saihara said, already feeling on edge. Yumeno opened her mouth, but before she could answer a loud battle cry echoed throughout the classroom, and before he knew it, Saihara had been picked up by Tenko, letting out a scream of terror.

“Tenko will protect Yumeno at all costs!” she shouted, throwing Saihara with way more strength than you’d expect from a cute girl, and Saihara landed on the floor with a yelp, his head spinning. Maybe this approach wasn’t such a good idea.

Glaring at him intensely, Tenko sternly crossed her arms.

“You can’t let your guard down around boys, Yumeno! Who knows what they might do to you if Tenko isn’t around to help?”

“It’s alright” Yumeno replied, voice as muted and lacking in emotion as always. She straightened her back for a moment with pride, before flopping back onto the desk. “My magic is strong, so dealing with small fry is no trouble for me.”

Saihara would’ve probably felt insulted, had he not been still lying on the floor. As it stood, he couldn’t exactly argue with her.

“I just wanted to ask her a question!”

“Excuses, excuses! Tenko will not stand for a boy like you tainting Yumeno!”

“As I mentioned, my magic-“

“Guys, let’s all calm down for a minute!”

Finally getting to his feet, Saihara turned his head to see who happened to interrupt them - and his eyes met a scolding Kaede’s, standing a few meters away, a curious Angie observing the transpiring events next to her. Unlike Angie, however, who simply gave them a friendly wave, Kaede began lecturing them about shouting inside the classroom. Not even Saihara was spared.

“But Akamatsu, this boy was trying to hurt Yumeno!” Tenko objected, although with significantly less venom in her voice this time.

“I don’t think Saihara meant her any harm” Kaede looked at the slightly disheveled boy, who gave her a nod to affirm her statement. “And I’m sure asking a single question wouldn’t hurt anybody - especially not a magi- a mage, like Yumeno.”

Saihara didn’t miss the stutter; it was rather unsurprising. He still wasn’t certain whether Kaede just didn’t believe Yumeno but still wanted to respect her self-proclaimed title, or if it was just a slip of the tongue, but he was leaning quite strongly towards the former. Kaede was kind enough to do something like that.

Kaede’s words somehow having convinced her, Tenko reluctantly stepped slightly to the side, pouting slightly. Before she could change her mind, Saihara turned to Yumeno, wanting to get this over with as fast as possible.

“I was wondering if you knew anything about ghosts - why a person would turn into one, for example” Saihara explained, doing his best to ignore Tenko silently glowering at him. “For research purposes.”

“Ghosts, huh…?” Yumeno slowly responded, placing a finger to her chin. “I am indeed knowledgeable on the topic - in fact, I could use my magic to summon one right here and now.”

“Then… does that mean you could also exorcise one?”

“I could, but that would require too much energy. I cannot simply use my magic for fun, you know.”

Figures.

“However, to answer your previous question…” she leaned back in her chair, slightly tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling, more than likely gathering her thoughts. “The most common reason for somebody to turn into a ghost is regret. That, and being summoned by a mage like myself from the afterlife.”

“Regret?” Saihara repeated, and Yumeno nodded.

“If they had some kind of desire that they were unable to fulfill, for example” Yumeno made a broad gesture, letting her hands lazily fall afterwards. “There is also revenge, although it’s not quite as prevalent.”

Somehow, Saihara doubted Kiibo belonged to the latter category.

“Angie is sure if you pray to God he will protect you from any vengeful spirit!” Angie chimed in cheerfully from the side - whether she was trying to reassure Saihara or just spread her agenda, Saihara couldn’t tell. “So be sure to tell Angie if a spirit is bothering you!”

Saihara laughed nervously.

Unwilling to gamble with Tenko’s patience, he decided to back off for now. Yumeno might know a lot about the topic, but he could always do his own research online, or in the library, without becoming a human pretzel.

“Well, uhm, thank you for answering” he said, to which Yumeno simply nodded, too lazy to bother with an actual response. Not that Saihara minded too much. Tenko seemed to relax as well once he turned around and walked back to his desk, wondering if he still had enough time to eat the boxed lunch Toujou had prepared for him in the morning - along with 14 more, for everybody from class.

Before he unpacked it, though, he turned back to Kaede behind him, shyly adjusting his hat.

“Thank you. For helping me talk to Yumeno.”

Kaede smiled, shaking her head.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re classmates, so I’d like to see us getting along” she said, her stern expression from earlier completely replaced by her usual friendly, outgoing one. “Still, I didn’t take you for one to be interested in the occult, Saihara.”

“Oh, uhm-“

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, it’s fine” Kaede quickly cut him off, lifting her palms with a small chuckle. “I just thought it was worth mentioning is all.”

Unsure of how to reply to that, Saihara stayed quiet for a bit, then went for a tiny nod. Kaede seemed amused at the very least.

“Well, it would be a shame to let lunch made by the Super High School Level Maid go to waste, so… I’ll see you later. Let me know if you need anything else” she finally said, giving him a small wave. After returning the goodbye, Saihara watched as she dug her boxed lunch out, Iruma pushing their desks together so they could talk while eating.

He better eat his own lunch fast before the bell rings - or before Ouma steals it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies about the lack of ghost boy this chapter, he will return soon, dont worry  
> hmu with some sweet tenmiko tho


	4. Hidden intentions

Placing his bag on his desk, Saihara sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh before completely giving up and falling on his back. He spent quite a bit of time in the library - first doing his homework and studying for tomorrow, then checking books one by one to see if he could find anything that would be of help with the whole spirit situation, but the information he found was way too chaotic and inconsistent. Well, it had to do with the occult, so it wasn’t very surprising, but Saihara couldn’t help feeling disappointed nevertheless. He supposed he might have to rely on Yumeno’s words for now.

“Ah, welcome back” Kiibo said, and Saihara returned the greeting in his own tired, quiet voice. He was used to processing large bits of information in a limited amount of time - he was very fond of mystery novels after all -, but the combination of that and his classmates constantly stirring up trouble was taking its toll on him a little bit.

Kiibo seemed to notice that as well: he came to a stop once he reached the bottom of the bed, giving Saihara a worried look.

“Are you alright? You seem to be just as exhausted as yesterday, if not worse…”

“I’m fine” Saihara mumbled, already feeling himself drifting off. It wasn’t that late in the evening, but after the day’s events all he really wanted was a good night’s rest. Kiibo’s voice fading into the background, he let his eyelids slowly drop, his breathing evening out.

He really had to stop taking impromptu naps.

\------------------------------------

When he came to, it was half an hour before nighttime, and he was lying in the exact same position he’d passed out in. Pushing himself up with his eyes still closed, he was about to check what had woken him up, when he felt his forehead collide with something, and he flopped back down on his back. He could feel a small bruise forming already as he clutched his head with a pained expression.

“I- I’m sorry! I was not expecting you to sit up so suddenly!” he could hear Kiibo frantically apologising, and he opened his eyes to see Kiibo right above him, seemingly trying his best to melt into the ceiling. He must have gotten startled when Saihara headbutted him.

“N-no, it’s fine… I forgot that you can fly” Saihara said, sitting up once again, rubbing the aching bump right in the middle of his forehead. At least his hat will cover it just fine. “Are _you_ okay, though?”

Kiibo nodded, hesitantly lowering himself back to Saihara’s level before quickly heading into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. Saihara could water running for a few seconds as he watched Kiibo grab a small towel then disappear from view, the wall next to the sink covering up what he was doing.

He came back to Saihara with the towel soaking wet, a knot tied in the middle, holding it out to him.

“I am aware icing would be better for swelling, but seeing as how I am unable to enter the kitchen…”

Saihara took the towel gratefully, pressing it to the throbbing spot immediately, the cold sensation making the pain much more bearable. Hopefully the bruise won’t be bad enough for anyone to notice - he wasn’t sure how he was to explain himself, especially to a certain supreme ruler. He would have preferred to avoid making himself seem even more suspicious, if possible.

“Still, are you sure you’re alright?” he scanned Kiibo’s own forehead for any possible signs of injury, but he appeared perfectly unharmed despite Saihara’s own state. Either he had a really hard head, or this was another one of his weird spirit things.

“Yes” Kiibo nodded once again. “It only hurt for a short moment, please do not worry.”

It would make sense - despite having a physical form of some sort, Kiibo never seemed to get hungry or thirsty; it would be more strange if he was capable of sustaining some form of injury, even if he could feel pain.

“Well, I’m glad at least one of us is fine” Saihara sighed, making a mental note to check his surroundings before he did something like that again, and smoothly changed topics before Kiibo could apologise again. “Did you wake me up?”

“Ah, yes. I thought you might want to take a shower while the water is still running.”

Saihara almost forgot about the nighttime rules.

“Yeah, you’re right” he slowly removed the towel, standing up. He still had a bit of time, but he didn’t wanna leave it to the last minute, not wanting the water to stop while he was still showering. “Thanks, I’ll go right ahead…”

“Please stay safe” Kiibo said, moving to the side so he wouldn’t have to walk around him. The sentence would have felt strange coming from someone else, but Saihara was sure he must have seemed like an extraordinarily clumsy person in the spirit’s eyes, based on Kiibo’s first impressions of him. He hoped that would change in the future, though.

\------------------------------------

Fortunately for Saihara, the next two weeks were rather uneventful compared to how everything started out. Thanks to Kaede’s constant interventions everyone eventually mellowed out somewhat - well, except for Ouma, but he was in a whole different category -, and aside from an occasional smaller conflict or two people stopped going at each other’s throats. It was quite refreshing.

He managed to make a couple of friends as well, despite his worries. He usually hung out with Momota and Kaede, joining the lucky student, Amami, for a quick chat every once in a while when the other two’s personalities tired them out a little. Toujou and Shirogane were also easy to talk to, although the majority of the latter’s pop culture references flew over his head without him noticing them.

He spent some time with Kiibo as well every day, of course, seeing as how they were kind of stuck together until one of them figured something out. Just like with Amami, Kiibo’s reserved personality seemed to help him relax, despite the misunderstandings his oblivious nature would cause sometimes, and Kiibo expressed his joy each time Saihara spoke to him, with a smile and a cheerful greeting. Being pretty much alone for three years, Saihara couldn’t imagine how lonely Kiibo must have been until now, so he was glad he was able to help him with that, if nothing else.

On the other hand, though, his investigation concerning Kiibo’s circumstances was going rather poorly. He’d asked him if he could think of anything that would have caused him to feel regret before he presumably died - an unfulfilled desire, as Yumeno put it -, but Kiibo could only remind him that he had next to no memories about his life before he ended up as his current form. Currently, that was proving to be the biggest problem; Saihara wasn’t sure if regaining lost memories would be an easy task, though. More than likely not.

Maybe… he could ask Iruma about it. It might have been a bit of a stretch, but even if none of her inventions would be able to directly help, she might know someone who would be. Plus if he was having any trouble asking her, Kaede would most likely be able to help him out, as her and Iruma have already become pretty close in the span of two weeks. That sounded like a decent plan for now.

Before that, though…

Closing his notebook, having finished his homework, he let out a barely audible sigh. Tomorrow was Sunday, and he hasn’t made any plans yet. At first he was thinking he would spend the day in his room, maybe reading one of the novels he had lent to Kiibo - so he wouldn’t be bored while Saihara was attending class -, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he should perhaps join one of his classmates for the day. He’s never really been the type to go out of his way to socialise, and he’s never been invited anywhere by a friend before… if he wanted to change that anytime soon, now would be the time.

Before he could decide on an answer, though, his thought process was interrupted by a knock on the door. Kiibo was currently absorbed in one of his books, so he didn’t even notice - but he was hidden from view if someone stuck their head through the door, and if whoever was knocking wanted to come inside Saihara could just make up an excuse, so…

Saihara stood up from the desk, walking over to the door, quietly listening for any suspicious noises for a couple of seconds before finally opening it.

He immediately regretted it, as his late night visitor revealed themselves.

“Good evening, Saihara!” Ouma greeted him with a mischievous grin on his face, either unaware of Saihara’s distressed expression or simply choosing to ignore it. With no regard to personal space whatsoever, he immediately stepped inside, only to be stopped by Saihara standing in front of him, his arms raised on both sides to prevent him from entering further.

“A-ah, Ouma, if you have something you’d like to talk about I’d rather we do it outside” Saihara said nervously, following Ouma with his eyes as he leaned from one side to another.

“Ehh? But I don’t want anybody to hear us! It’s something embarrassing, you know!” Ouma whined, puffing his cheeks like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Even so, my room is very messy at the moment, so-“

“Liar! Everybody knows Toujou cleans every room during the afternoon!”

Saihara was starting to panic until Ouma dropped his childish act, shrugging his shoulders in an uncaring manner.

“Well, whatever. I wasn’t being serious anyway” he stepped back outside, sticking his tongue out. “I can’t believe you fell for that. You’re very gullible for a detective.”

Unwilling to relax just yet, Saihara reluctantly lowered his arms, closing the door behind him as he followed Ouma into the hallway.

“So? Do you have something you want to ask me?” after a giggle from the shorter boy, Saihara crossed his arms, trying to make himself look at least a little intimidating despite his timid voice. “Or did you just want to mess with me as usual?”

“Aww, don’t say it like that! I’m hurt!” the corners of Ouma’s mouth turned downwards as he put on a crying expression, and Saihara was about to instinctively apologise before he went back to his indifferent self again. “Well, you have a fair point, though. I love messing with you, after all!”

Saihara didn’t have the energy to be dealing with Ouma’s antics this late in the day, so he didn’t reward that with a response, instead staring at Ouma suspiciously until he gave in and threw his hands up.

“Alright, fine! I’ll tell you!” he grabbed Saihara by the wrist before the other could object, dragging him into the nearest toilet, closing the door behind them.

“Why are we talking in a restroom?” Saihara asked, unsure if he even wanted Ouma to answer that.

“I told you I didn’t want anybody to hear us!”

“What about your own room?”

“Nu-uh! As if I’d let you uncover my secrets so easily!” Ouma laughed, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed behind his head. “Anyway, that part isn’t important. I’m about to tell you something very exciting, so be prepared!”

Saihara nodded with a sigh, giving him permission to speak. Really, he might as well get this over with; Ouma was definitely not the type to back off if he wanted something.

“So, I’m sure you’ve seen how Iruma and Akamatsu have been acting around each other” Ouma began, smirking.

“Like… best friends?”

“Saihara, you dummy, you think too small! Have you even seen the looks they give each other?” Ouma reprimanded him, shaking his head in disbelief. “Well, I guess I might just be too good at reading people compared to the rest of you guys.”

“Just get to the point” Saihara said, masking his embarrassment at Ouma’s remark by slightly tilting his hat forward.

“Yeah, yeah!” Ouma waved his hand dismissively. “Anyway, I was eavesdropping on the two of them earlier today-“

“You should respect other people’s privacy!”

“-and Akamatsu totally invited Iruma on a date!” Ouma finished, promptly ignoring Saihara’s interruption. “They’re going to see a movie tomorrow.”

After a brief moment of silence, Saihara replied with confusion, only for Ouma to cut him off again.

“I don’t see what-“

“We’re going to follow them and see how it turns out, of course!” Ouma exclaimed, bouncing up and down on his feet. Saihara’s first reaction was to refuse, of course.

“We can’t just do that! We should let the two of them work things out at their own pace, and if they don’t want the rest of us to know about it-“

“Aww, don’t give me that! I’m sure you also wanna know if they end up together or not!”

“…Akamatsu is my friend, and I’m not going to spy on her just because you want me to.”

Ouma suddenly got strangely serious, his hands dropping to his side. He gave Saihara the same look when he’d caught him lying about the haunted dorm; Saihara couldn’t help but feel threatened, despite Ouma’s short stature and childish appearance.

“That’s a shame. I guess you won’t mind me looking around in your room and telling everybody aaaaaall about it then…”

Drawing out the syllable with a smile that was missing every bit of his usual carefree tone behind it, he winked, and Saihara felt a chill run down his spine.

“W-why do you want me of all people to go with you, anyway?”

“Because, you see, I’ve already asked everyone I’m on good terms with and they all refused!”

Saihara wasn’t sure if his and Ouma’s definition of the phrase ‘on good terms’ was the same.

“Oh, Amami did agree to it, but only after I told him you were also coming! So I really need you to come with me, alright?”

Ouma looked at him with sparkling eyes, the malice Saihara had sensed before now completely gone - but that didn’t stop him from worrying about Ouma’s threat. Searching his room would be troublesome, sure, but Kiibo could just hide while Ouma was doing it… What had him feeling more concerned was what Ouma would do if he didn’t find anything, easily concluding that whatever Saihara was hiding was still out of his reach. He really did not want him digging into his personal life.

Letting his shoulders drop, Saihara gave in, defeated.

“…Fine, I’ll go with you guys. But you have to promise me that you won’t do anything, alright?”

“As in?” Ouma gave him an innocent smile, tilting his head to the side.

“You can only watch. If you try and do anything behind their backs I’ll immediately tell them both” Saihara warned him, crossing his arms.

“Of course I won’t! You can trust me, you know!” Ouma nodded enthusiastically. “I may be a liar, but it would be boring if I went ahead and helped them out. I want to see how they’ll do without me!”

Saihara hoped that bit wasn’t a lie.

“Well, I’m gonna go and get ready for tomorrow now” Ouma said, opening the door once again and stepping outside. “We’ll meet in front of the school gate at 2 in the afternoon; don’t be late!”

As he sprinted off towards his own room, Saihara could hear him snickering to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you cant tell already i love ouma  
> also im pretty sure amamis talent in the au hasnt come up yet? but i gave him luck because as far as im aware every hopes peak class had a lucky student (and not because hes green komaeda)  
> by the way!! im currently writing the next chapter, and it looks like itll end up being wayyyy longer than the ones so far (im only around halfway done with it and its already over 2k words....), so i was wondering; would you guys want me to split it up into two parts, or just leave it the way it is?


	5. Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so!! this chapter and the next one were originally one giant part at the start but it ended up getting so out of hand that i just had to split it (seriously, they almost make up half the entire fic so far together). i am gonna post them both at the same time, though, as a compromise between my original options :0 i hope you guys dont mind  
> (i was gonna wait for more comments for more opinions but in the end i got too impatient lol)

“You appear to be somewhat distraught; is something the matter?”

Saihara looked towards Kiibo to find him staring straight at him, a worried look in his eyes, the book he’d been reading having been closed, placed down on the desk. After a moment of debating with himself whether he should tell Kiibo about Ouma’s plans for tomorrow - he didn’t want Kiibo being upset for his own sake, after all -, he decided sharing a few details couldn’t hurt.

“Ouma blackmailed me into going out with him tomorrow.”

Apparently that was already too much, though, as Kiibo took on a scornful expression, ready to unleash one of his lectures about morality and whatnot.

“Ouma is that one troublemaker classmate of yours, yes?”

The term might have been a bit too broad, but Saihara nodded anyway.

“Unbelievable. If only I could have a word or two with him…” Kiibo crossed his arms, visibly agitated.

“Well, it’s really not that big of a deal…” Saihara tried to backpedal, but Kiibo shook his head.

“For you to be this disheartened because of it, I am sure it is of no small importance! Honestly, you should stop letting him treat you like this before he gets you both into trouble.”

If it was any other person Saihara would have probably agreed with him, but Ouma was an exception to the rule. An exception to all rules, if Saihara had to be honest.

“It’s not like I had a choice” he argued, making a bitter expression. “He said he would search my room if I didn’t agree to it, and we both know why that would be a problem.”

Kiibo seemed to shrink back at that, and Saihara realised why putting it that way might have been a bad move on his part.

“O-oh, I’m sorry” Kiibo replied, irritation turning into guilt, floating a little further away while fidgeting with his hands. “I did not consider the possibility…”

Saihara felt a sudden sharp pang in his heart. It may have been a bit of an overreaction on Kiibo’s part, but could Saihara really blame him for it? Shouldn’t _Saihara_ be the one apologising?

After a short - and rather tense, on Kiibo’s part - moment of silence, Saihara exhaled slowly, shaking his head.

“Don’t blame yourself, alright? It’s not your fault” he said, trying his best to sound reassuring. “Ouma would have found some way to convince me regardless, he always does.”

He took a deep breath, simultaneously calming his own nerves and preparing himself mentally for the upcoming day.

“Besides, if Ouma keeps his word, it won’t be that bad. I’ll survive.”

He didn’t mention the fact that chances are, Ouma wouldn’t.

Kiibo did seem to calm down for the most part after that, however, timidly floating to his previous position, although still fidgeting. Saihara gave him a tired smile.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

\------------------------------------

Saihara woke up surprisingly early the next day, almost rolling off the bed onto a clueless Kiibo - who was lying around on the floor with nothing to do - in the process, having somehow moved towards the very edge in his sleep. Unaware of the barely avoided accident, Kiibo’s eyes lit up, and he flew above Saihara with such speed that he almost knocked their heads together again.

“Good morning, Saihara! Would you like some water? Or anything else?”

“Morning, Kiibo” Saihara mumbled, rubbing his eyes, before sleepily raising a brow at him. “What’s up with you today?”

Flustered, Kiibo averted his gaze, starting to fidget with his hands as he always would, whenever he got nervous.

“Uhm, well… Since you were not looking forward to today, for obvious reasons, I thought I should at least try and make sure you get to relax in the morning” he explained, blushing so slightly that Saihara might not have noticed if he hadn’t memorized Kiibo’s face perfectly by that point.

…

Okay, that might have sounded a little… strange. It’s not like he’s been staring! Well… he has, but for a good reason! If he wanted to solve this mystery, after all, he had to pay careful attention to even small details like that! And besides, a spirit isn’t something you see every day, right? Who wouldn’t be staring if they came across one?

Kiibo anxiously waiting for his response, Saihara snapped back to reality.

“You really don’t have to go that far, you know” Saihara said, expecting either relief or surprise from the other - but definitely not disappointment.

“Am I… bothering you?” Kiibo asked hesitantly, wearing the same concerned expression he would put on whenever Saihara would arrive with his shoulders slumped and head hanging low, exhausted from whatever had transpired that day.

“No, of course not!” Saihara was quick to object, a bit startled by Kiibo’s reaction.

“Then… please allow me to do at least this much for you” Kiibo insisted with an unusual amount of stubbornness, especially for him. Saihara wondered if he really did feel guilty about what he’d told him the previous night.

Well, only one way to find out…

“…Listen, if this is because of what we talked about yesterday, you really don’t have to worry about it, alright?”

Kiibo’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to argue, but Saihara wasn’t done yet.

“I _want_ to help you, I _want_ to figure out what happened to you. And it’s not because of some cold reason, like wanting to get rid of you.”

Still not entirely convinced, Kiibo’s gaze shifted around as he spoke, breaking eye contact whenever his eyes would meet Saihara’s own.

“…Is it because you’re a detective?”

“It’s…” Saihara took a deep breath, “because we’re friends.”

Holding in the billion excuses and/or awkward apologies filling his mind as soon as he’d said it - one of them had to keep a cool head, after all -, Saihara continued with his voice only slightly shaking.

“I want to help you because you’re my friend, Kiibo. Y-you’re not a burden at all, so please don’t think you have to make up for it this way, alright?”

He hadn’t actually called anyone a friend out loud before, at least not in front of them, so Saihara couldn’t help but act nervous about it, feeling like his heart was about to break through his ribcage. Kiibo wouldn’t be able to hear that… right? No, of course he wouldn’t, what a silly question. Saihara bit the inside of his cheek, holding his breath.

“I… I’m your… friend?” Kiibo repeated, stunned. His voice stuck in his throat, Saihara simply nodded, and he almost choked on air when Kiibo broke out in a smile, the corners of his mouth trembling. “Do you really mean that, Saihara? You would not lie about something like that, right?”

“O-of course I wouldn’t...” Saihara replied, as though it was obvious.

Looking as though he might actually explode from happiness, Kiibo’s face only got redder.

“Thank you, I… I also think of you as a friend!” he blurted out, voice perhaps a bit louder than he’d originally intended. Saihara couldn’t help a tiny chuckle, gradually loosening up after Kiibo’s response.

“I’m glad” he smiled, a strange kind of giddiness overpowering him. Sure, he talked to Momota, Kaede and Amami enough as well to refer to them as his friends in his head, but this… this was something different. Sharing his honest feelings with somebody without the fear of being judged for them, without his own insecurities preventing him from doing so in the first place… He felt as though during the brief period that he’d known Kiibo for, he had already built a special kind of bond with him, one unlike any other that he had with his classmates. It was somewhat strange, but… it filled his chest with a certain kind of warmth. When he was with Kiibo, he felt like he was at peace.

He wasn’t sure why his heart was still beating so fast, though.

\------------------------------------

Checking his pockets one last time to make sure he had all the necessary items on him - his cellphone and enough change for a ticket being the most important ones -, resisting the urge to repeatedly scan the room for the currently invisible Kiibo. Normally he wouldn’t have hid just because Saihara was going somewhere, but as it was Sunday, Toujou wasn’t restricted by her usual schedule, and they couldn’t predict when she would show up to clean Saihara’s room. Saihara could have just asked her to stop a long time ago, but if he had to be honest… he was sort of glad that she left him with fewer tasks to complete. Besides, apart from taking quite a bit of pride in her job, she seemed to surprisingly enjoy it, so Saihara supposed in the end it was a win-win scenario for both of them. He did kinda wish that she would stop reorganizing his books, though.

Once he made sure he had everything he needed, his gaze fell on one of the drawers, the only one that he hadn’t put to use yet, as he’d ran out of objects to store in it beforehand. He should probably take care of those tarot cards now. It’s not like he meant to leave them there like that - he was sure their owner was looking all over for them -, he had just sort of forgotten about them, and every time he remembered it would already be late in the night.

Right now, however, was still relatively early… chances are, he might have a bit of difficulty finding a teacher and asking about the previous occupant, but it was still better than leaving the cards for another day yet again, so Saihara decisively pulled the drawer open. As he reached for the pack of cards to pull them out, though, they seemed to lightly collide with something in the back. Apparently the cards weren’t the only things Saihara had yet to return to the owner, which only served to increase the tiny pit of shame in his stomach. Oops.

After removing the cards, he reached towards the very back of the drawer, hidden from view, and felt his hand make contact with a small, rectangular object. He pulled his hand out to reveal what appeared to be… an mp3 player? Or something similar to it, at least. It was a bit thicker than the ones Saihara had seen other students carrying before, and some of the buttons looked different than what he remembered. Maybe it was an older model or something…?

His thought process was interrupted by several knocks on the door, and he hastily pocketed the cards along with the device he newly discovered, opening the door to see Ouma standing outside, balancing on his tiptoes.

“Hi there!” he greeted Saihara cheerfully, eyes sparkling from excitement.

“Hi, Ouma…” Saihara ignored the annoyed pout on said person’s face at his lack of enthusiasm. “Didn’t you say we’d be meeting in front of the gate?”

“Hmm, did I?” Ouma tilted his head to the side as he tapped his chin with a finger a few times, before shrugging with a grin. “Well, it doesn’t really matter! I’ve been soooo bored all morning, you know? Almost everyone has left; Toujou isn’t fun to tease and Harumaki is just straight up ignoring me!”

If she heard him call her that, Ouma would probably have more important things to worry about than being bored. Like his own safety.

“Anyway, let’s go find Amami so we can go already!” Ouma grabbed onto Saihara’s sleeve, dragging him fast enough that Saihara barely had time to close the door behind him.

“He’s probably outside-“

“Come on, Saihara, hurry up a little! We don’t have all day” Ouma laughed, seemingly not planning on letting go of him anytime soon. He was fast, much faster than his short stature would have made anyone else believe, and Saihara almost found it difficult to keep up the pace, his only motivation being that if he slowed down Ouma might end up ripping his jacket.

They found Amami sitting on a bench near the gate, phone in hand, texting somebody. Saihara watched with a dry expression as Ouma finally let go of his sleeve to sneak up on Amami, letting out a loud cry just as said person looked up from his phone.

“Amami!”

Instead of making some kind of scared noise and maybe jumping a little like Saihara was expecting him to, Amami froze like a deer in headlights, hand stopped in mid-air, before letting out the air he’d apparently been holding.

“Ouma, you should really stop doing that” he scolded the currently snickering boy, crossing his arms as he got to his feet. “It wasn’t funny the first time, either.”

Implying that Ouma has apparently been doing this on a regular basis… Saihara felt a little sorry for the so-called lucky student; having to constantly put up with Ouma’s shenanigans for a longer period of time wasn’t exactly the definition of ‘having good luck’.

“Aww, but it’s so much fun! You’re always so composed, so seeing you being startled is a really nice change of pace” Ouma’s grin only widened. Saihara gave Amami a sympathetic look, to which Amami shrugged his shoulders slightly with a wry smile. Despite reprimanding Ouma about it, he must have already given up on actually succeeding to stop him. Saihara could see why.

Once Ouma was done poking fun at Amami’s expense, he broadly gestured towards the sidewalk, taking a couple of steps forward.

“Well, let’s get going!”

Amami and Saihara followed him reluctantly, the former giving Saihara an encouraging smile. At least he had Amami to count on.

As he stepped through the gate, he thought he felt something lightly brush the back of his neck for a second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is the gayest one yet, hold onto your seats


	6. Unforeseen circumstances

“Heeey, guys, what’s the hold up? The exit is this wa-“

Amami’s hand clamped over Ouma’s mouth as Saihara shushed him in a panicked manner, glancing around to make sure the two girls didn’t her him yelling. Fortunately they were already far ahead, the bustling of the people around causing any moderately loud noise to melt into the background. Saihara supposed Ouma’s patience might have just been wearing thin; he’d stayed completely silent through the entirety of the movie, despite it being horror, one of Ouma’s favourite genres. Saihara himself could manage to keep it down every time a sudden scare got to him, but he was pretty sure he could hear Amami make some muffled, whimpering noises, Iruma’s screaming loud and clear even on the opposite side of the theater. Saihara could see her desperately clinging to Kaede even when the two of them stood up to leave.

Honestly, the two of them were pretty adorable together, even Saihara had to admit it. Kaede didn’t seem fazed by Iruma’s foul-mouthed speech patterns in the slightest, and she seemed to practically melt whenever Iruma’s more flustered side took control, the latter blushing and stuttering whenever Kaede gave her a compliment. Saihara still didn’t feel too great about going behind their backs about this, but his guilt was slowly being replaced by genuine happiness for the two. He didn’t say a word about it out loud, though; he was sure Ouma would tease him about it.

Speaking of Ouma…

Amami drew back his palm, positively scandalized at Ouma’s cheeky grin. Apparently Ouma had licked his hand to get him to remove it.

“I’m gonna go run to the toilet real quick. Don’t wait for me, I bet I’ll catch up to you anyway, slowpokes!” Ouma announced, skipping off in the direction of the male restroom. He did finish the giant bottle of grape panta that he’d bought beforehand; Saihara wasn’t surprised.

Brows slightly furrowed in a disapproving manner, Amami crossed his arms.

“Seriously, he should learn to act his age already. One of these days I’m going to give him a long lecture…”

“You have my sympathies” Saihara said, a little amazed that Amami hadn’t given up entirely on Ouma yet.

He supposed it might have been because of the other boy’s personality; despite being nearly the same age, Amami seemed to have an unusual aura of maturity around him at all times. He often deemed it his own responsibility to take care of his classmates - if Kaede was the mother of the class, Amami was the older brother that could always be counted on.

“Well, it’s not like I’m not used to it. My sisters can be a bit of a handful at times, as well” Amami smiled sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe even rowdier sometimes.”

Ah, that would explain it.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had sisters! How old are they?”

“Well…” Amami raised a hand to his mouth, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. “The oldest one, Hotaru, is going to be 15 soon, then the twins, Kiyoko and Mariko, are both 13…”

And he went on and on, Saihara staring at him with his mouth slightly hanging open. After it seemed like Amami was finally finished, Saihara began counting mentally, Amami watching him with a strange kind of amusement in his eyes.

“You… you have 12 sisters!?”

Amami couldn’t help a laugh at Saihara’s dramatic reaction, nodding with a crooked smile.

“Everyone always reacts like that at first, don’t worry. You’ll get used to the idea soon” he replied, running a hand through his hair. Saihara couldn’t imagine that happening too easily, but he returned the smile anyway, even if it might have looked a little forced.

Adjusting his hat a little, Saihara was about to remark on Ouma taking his time, before he felt a hand touch one of his shoulders, a quiet voice whispering into his ear.

“Could we talk for a moment, please?”

Letting out some kind of weird high-pitched yelp, Saihara whizzed around so fast his hat almost fell off; but he couldn’t see anyone behind him. A sneaking suspicion in the back of his head, he turned back to Amami, who was staring at him with a perplexed raise of his brows.

“Is something the matter?”

Opening and closing his mouth several times in a row, Saihara finally shook his head, ignoring the way his face was heating up.

“I- I’m gonna go see if Ouma is alright, I’ll b-be right back!” he blurted out, suddenly sprinting off in the opposite direction, not even waiting for Amami’s response. He ran into Ouma, who just happened to be opening the door to the restroom, almost knocking him to the floor in the process. Saihara apologised hastily before hurrying past him, turning his head left and right to see if he could find a spot without people.

His gaze ended up settling on a clothes store. As long as he can find an empty changing room…

Slowing his pace, he entered the store, quickly grabbing a few miscellaneous T-shirts and carrying them into one of the open stalls, closing the door and locking it behind him. His heart beating wildly in his chest from the sudden adrenaline rush, he dropped down on the chair in the corner, sweaty hands curled into loose fists in his lap.

“…Kiibo? Is that you?”

The familiar translucent cloud slowly appeared before him, revealing a wide-eyed, distressed Kiibo, floating so low in the air he might as well have been standing on the floor.

Saihara had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore, but before he could voice his confusion, Kiibo started speaking in a panicked, hushed tone, clearly feeling just as lost as Saihara on the matter.

“I- I apologise for interrupting your conversation like that, but I have been waiting to tell you about this for a while now, and I was really nearing my limit…!” he sounded genuinely scared, and Saihara’s own heart sank at the sound of his voice.

“…Have you been following me until now?” Saihara asked, having decided to hear Kiibo’s side of the story before jumping to any conclusions. Not that he had much to go on, regarding those; he couldn’t think of a single reason for the sudden change in Kiibo’s situation on the spot. He _needed_ to know more.

“Ah, yes, b-but not on purpose! You see…” Kiibo took a small breath - probably only in hopes that it would help him calm down a little, as he didn’t actually have the need to breathe -, “when you were leaving with Ouma, I… I am not sure how to explain it, but it was as though an invisible force had dragged me through the door. A-and ever since then, I seem to have been unable to leave your side…”

If the circumstances had been different, that would have sounded rather romantic.

…

Get your head out of the clouds, Shuuichi, this isn’t the time!

“I have tried to warn you multiple times without your friends noticing me, but you never seemed to notice…” Kiibo raised his hands and started fidgeting. “I thought about waiting until you would decide to head back, but… I- I’m sorry, I was too nervous…!”

He must have been worried that Saihara wouldn’t be able to talk to him anymore, since he didn’t react to any of Kiibo’s supposed warnings. Thinking back on it, though, Saihara could definitely recall a few occasions when he’d felt a mysterious touch throughout the day, although they were always light enough for him to be able to write it off as his imagination. He shouldn’t have just brushed them off like that.

Biting his lip, Saihara furrowed his brows in concentration. Kiibo had been unable to leave that room for 3 years - that was a fact that they had tested multiple times, so it was undeniable. And yet this time, not only did he have the ability to do so, he had been forced to leave against his will. So what was it that made today so special - what was it that allowed him to do so? Was it something Kiibo did, or…?

No, Saihara couldn’t recall Kiibo doing or saying anything unusual that would cause such a change to take place. So then, did Saihara do something to make this happen, without either of the two realising it?

Kiibo was nearly in tears at this point, and Saihara snapped back to reality, standing up so he could talk to him without having to crane his neck. He slowly reached out, taking Kiibo’s hands in his own; whether it was to reassure the spirit or himself, Saihara wasn’t sure.

“Hey” he whispered, giving Kiibo’s hands a gentle squeeze. “It’s alright, we’ll figure this out. I promise.”

He stayed like that, unmoving, until Kiibo squeezed his hands back, hesitantly speaking up, his voice so quiet Saihara was barely able to make out what he was saying.

“I… I’m sorry, I was just...”

“I know.”

“…I was really scared.”

“I know, Kiibo.”

“I didn’t know if you would talk to me again…”

“I know, it’s alright.”

Saihara carefully touched his forehead to Kiibo’s, holding onto his hands as he continued murmuring various reassurances, hyperaware of how warm and soft the other’s touch felt, and the way his own heart was thumping against his ribcage, just a little faster than usual. They stayed like that for several minutes, neither of the two willing to let go, Kiibo’s eyes fluttering closed at some point. Saihara’s voice trailed off, a calming, comforting silence soon surrounding the two, the faint buzzing of people’s voices in the distance the only sound Saihara could hear aside from his own breathing.

Saihara winced when the moment was interrupted by someone banging on the door, accompanied by the voice of a certain supreme ruler.

“Saihara! Are you in there?”

As though he was waking up from an - extremely pleasant - daydream, Saihara’s breath got stuck in his throat, and he looked over his shoulder to examine the door. The lock should be able to hold… right? Ouma wasn’t _that_ strong.

“I think I need to go” Saihara turned back to Kiibo, whispering so Ouma wouldn’t hear him. Kiibo looked a tad startled, but nodded understandingly nevertheless. Saihara gave him a small smile before reluctantly letting go of his hands. “We’ll talk about this later, once I get home, alright?”

“…Alright.”

Saihara waited for Kiibo to disappear from view again before unlocking the door, Ouma stumbling inside, presumably in the middle of trying to knock it down. A concerned shop assistant glanced in their direction, a few meters away.

“Whoa-“ Saihara caught Ouma by the shoulders before he could cause both of them to fall, but the shorter boy didn’t seem a tiny bit fazed by that part. Instead, he puffed his cheeks, resembling a child about to throw a tantrum.

“Jeez, why’d you have to go and run off like that? And you even ignored me when I called out to you! So mean!” Ouma whined, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Saihara flinched.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

Ouma’s crying face was gone in the next second, and his next sentence was almost nonchalant enough for Saihara to dismiss it as simple curiosity.

“Anyway, you sure were there for a while. Does trying on three shirts always take you this long?” Ouma’s blank stare made for an almost eerie contrast with his childish smile, and Saihara couldn’t help but feel as though Ouma was staring straight into his soul, violet eyes narrowing just barely enough for Saihara to notice.

“I, uhm, got a text from somebody” Saihara resisted the urge to avert his gaze, knowing that’d only make him look more suspicious. He felt like a criminal being interrogated - kind of ironic, considering their respective positions.

After an unsettling moment of silence, Ouma suddenly grinned, seemingly back to his usual self.

“Oh, I see! Still, you could’ve just told me” he said, pouting a little. Saihara gave him an apologetic smile, gathering up the shirts he’d grabbed previously in his arms.

“Sorry. I did tell Amami I’d be right back, though.”

“You were gone for almost 20 minutes” Ouma corrected him, gesturing towards the direction of Amami’s current position; if he was still waiting for them, that is. “No matter how you look at it, that’s way too long! If Iruma and Akamatsu are gone by the time we get back, I’ll totally hold it against you.”

Saihara stepped out of the stall, walking past Ouma to return the shirts to their original places, but not before Ouma grabbed him by the wrist, simultaneously pulling him down to his level and standing on his tiptoes, their faces mere inches from each other as Ouma spoke in an uncharacteristically low voice.

“Put some ice on that bruise of yours later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sure youre already aware, but ouma is going to play a much bigger role in this than i originally planned. as for the rest of the class, im planning on giving everyone at least one/a few scenes, depending on how often they end up interacting with saihara, so if you miss some of your faves, dont worry, they might appear in the future!  
> ah also im not gonna be tagging any relationships aside from saikiibo since i wont be focusing on them too much here (there is one exception that yall will see when i get to it, but i have a very, very special reason for that)


	7. Memento mori

As it turns out, Iruma and Kaede _had_ indeed disappeared while Ouma and Saihara were away. At least Amami was standing right where Saihara had left him - surrounded by a group of girls all talking to him at the same time, subtly shoving each other out of the way. When he noticed the two of them, the relief was clearly visible in his eyes, as he politely excused himself to join back up with his classmates. The girls certainly looked disappointed.

“Ah, that’s no fair! I can’t believe you chose picking up girls over our mission!” Ouma complained, to which Amami made a face that was somewhere between helpless and mildly annoyed.

“They came flocking to me as soon as Saihara ran off. It’s not like I invited them to come talk to me” Amami argued, keeping his tone relatively low to avoid the girls accidentally overhearing him. He was a nice guy, after all.

“That’s what you say, but you were totally enjoying it, weren’t you?” Ouma continued teasing him, lips stretching into a sly grin. “You’re actually a total playboy, right?”

“I’m not that kind of person!”

“Keep telling yourself that!”

Amami’s shoulders slowly rose, then quickly fell back down as he let out a deep sigh.

“Have I ever told you how immature you are?” he placed his hands on his hips, squinting at Ouma with a look of disapproval.

“Only a few times!”

Amami couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that, Ouma tilting his head to the side with an innocent smile, sticking his tongue out. Spotting a familiar white backpack a few stores away, the owner of it handing her date a single flower, Saihara zoned out of the conversation, wishing Kaede good luck in his head.

Just as he felt a tug on his sleeve, Ouma telling him to follow him and Amami in a loud and obnoxious manner, one of the girl’s comments reached his ear.

“Look at that small boy with the purple hair! Do you think the other two are his babysitters?”

Amami and Saihara dragged off a very offended Ouma in the opposite direction.

\------------------------------------

The rest of the afternoon went by pretty fast; upon Ouma’s suggestion - begging -, the trio spent an hour or two at a gaming center, Ouma mercilessly destroying Amami and Saihara both at every machine they tried. Each time he won, he threw his arms up with a triumphant cry, bragging that it was basically ‘child’s play’. Neither Amami nor Saihara were sore losers, though, so they let him enjoy his victories without any interruption on their part.

It was actually kind of fun.

Once it started getting a bit late, they headed back to school, the other two boys ignoring Ouma’s whining that he wanted to stay longer. Toujou was probably going to be finished making dinner soon.

They parted ways once they reached campus - Amami had to use the restroom, and Ouma wanted to look for Iruma and Kaede to see whether their date had ended just as well as it started out -, so Saihara went to check up on Toujou’s progress by himself. While he did have a few snacks at the cinema, it’s been a couple of hours since then, and he would’ve preferred to have an estimation for the next time he got to eat.

Poking his head into the cafeteria, he spotted Toujou and Shirogane sitting side by side, having an in-depth discussion about something, two cups of tea on the table in front of them. When they noticed him, Shirogane called him over, and figuring that a short conversation couldn’t hurt, Saihara walked up to the pair.

“Good afternoon, Saihara. Do you happen to know if Iruma and Akamatsu have gotten back yet?” Toujou asked before taking a small sip of her tea, practically radiating elegance with her every move. Saihara shook his head.

“I haven’t seen them, sorry. Do you need them for something?”

Toujou smiled knowingly, which only served to further emphasize her mature and wise aura. Saihara had to admit he felt a little intimidated talking to her sometimes, as though he was conversing with some kind of noblewoman, and not a high school student like himself; if it weren’t for Shirogane lightening the mood with her presence alone, sooner or later Saihara would have found himself addressing Toujou in a more formal manner than she would’ve preferred him to.

 “We’ve been waiting for one of them to make a move for a while now” Shirogane clarified, pushing her glasses up with a satisfied expression. “We’re just waiting for them to get back so we can interrogate them! It’s a little disappointing that the cherry blossoms have already fallen, though.”

Saihara decided not to comment on that last bit.

“Did you perhaps not notice the way they would stare at each other?” Toujou lightly chuckled at Saihara’s cluelessness, and Shirogane placed one of her hands on her cheeks, slightly tilting her head to the side, giving him a look that Saihara couldn’t quite place.

“Aww, you’re so innocent, Saihara! If this was a shoujo manga, you would definitely be the main love interest” she let out a dreamy sigh; Saihara had no idea what she was fantasizing about but he was sure he didn’t want to find out anytime soon.

Still, was he really the only one who hadn’t noticed Iruma and Kaede’s relationship until now…? Sure, they sat next to each other pretty much whenever they could, and both of them being rather touchy-feely, they’d often waltz into the classroom leading the other person by the hand, but girls did that all the time anyway, right? Surely, it couldn’t have been _that_ strange for Saihara to mistake their mutual attraction for a really close friendship… right?

Maybe it was because he had next to no experience with romance, having only witnessed it occasionally on TV and in the form of couples making out in public. He’d never gotten confessed to, nor had he ever really developed a crush on anyone before. Maybe he wasn’t _that_ oblivious, the others just knew more about romance than him. That really didn’t seem unimaginable.

“Ah, by the way, dinner will be ready in about half an hour or so” Toujou said, answering Saihara’s unspoken question. “You seem like you’re in a hurry, but if you happen to come across anyone, please be sure to remind them.”

“Oh, thank you” Saihara nodded, trying his best to hide his relief when Shirogane’s intense gaze left him. Most of the time she was quite nice to hang out with, even if she did space out a lot, but there were times where she got _just_ weird enough to make Saihara feel a tad uncomfortable.

After reassuring Toujou that if he saw anyone he’d notify them about the meal, Saihara left the girls to continue doing whatever they’d been at before he showed up. Power walking until he reached the door, he waited for a couple of seconds so Kiibo could follow him inside, then made sure to lock it behind him. He had roughly 30 minutes to figure something out - he could’ve postponed it for afterwards, but he had a feeling Kiibo wouldn’t take that too well.

While Kiibo phased into existence next to him, Saihara furrowed his brows, trying to recall what might have triggered such an event to occur. He’d already ruled out Kiibo’s own actions, which meant it must have been a factor the spirit didn’t, or couldn’t affect. Did the time or the day have anything to do with it? The date? The weather? The-

No, it was unlikely that any of those things played a part in this. It was the first time in 3 years that this had happened, after all, and Saihara found it hard to believe that if it had been any of those things that made today so special, they hadn’t occurred before.

Another possibility was that Saihara had caused it to happen, somehow - that seemed much more probable. The fact that it was him that Kiibo had been forced to follow around also supported his theory. So then, what did he do; what was the action that he hadn’t taken before? Going to town with friends? Leaving his room so early on a Sunday? Or…

He reached inside his pocket, removing all of its contents and placed them on the desk. Some leftover coins he didn’t get to spend, his student ID, his cellphone, a half-empty pack of grape-flavored chewing gum - which he was 100% sure Ouma had snuck in there somehow -, and…

The cards and the mp3 player. He’d forgotten about them somewhere along the way, but it was possible that carrying one of these with him might have been the reason, or at least was connected to it somehow. Curiously peering over his shoulder, Kiibo examined the objects alongside him.

“Oh, I recognise that” he pointed at the pack of cards. “They belonged to the previous owner. I was not aware that he’d forgotten them here…”

Saihara looked at him in surprise.

“Did you never check the drawers?” he gestured towards said furniture, built into the left side of the desk.

“Of course not, that would have been a violation of his and your privacy” Kiibo explained, seemingly bewildered that Saihara would even entertain the idea of him doing that. Opening his mouth, he was probably about to launch into a mini-rant on why respecting your roommate’s boundaries was important, but his voice died after the first word, face going blank. Saihara raised a brow, a little more worried than curious.

“Kiibo?”

At the sound of his name being called, Kiibo snapped out of his trance.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“Is something wrong?” at Saihara’s concerned expression, Kiibo shook his head, forcing a small smile.

“Please do not worry, I just got a rather strange feeling is all” he said, gaze shifting from Saihara to back to the desk.

“What do you mean?”

“I am not quite sure, but…” Kiibo paused; Saihara could only assume that he was having trouble trying to voice his thoughts properly. Slowly raising a hand, he pointed at the mp3 player. “This looks… familiar. I do not recall having seen it before, however…”

Yeah, that was definitely suspicious. After some thinking, Saihara picked up the device, holding it out to Kiibo. Maybe if he got a closer look at it, he would remember something.

Hesitantly reaching for it, Kiibo first touched it with a finger, his hand twitching for a moment, before carefully plucking it from Saihara’s grasp. Saihara watched him with slightly narrowed eyes, prepared to rip it out of his hand if anything bad happened to him, but Kiibo only stared at the object in silence, examining it to the last detail.

“I think… this used to belong to me” Kiibo spoke up, uncertainty clear in his tone. “It feels as though it should be very important to me, but…”

He squeezed his eyes shut, a pained expression suddenly crossing his face. Sirens began ringing in Saihara’s head as the mp3 player dropped to the floor, Kiibo clutching his temples, trembling slightly. Panicking, Saihara felt all the blood drain from his face. He wasn’t prepared for something like this; he had no idea what to do, but as soon as he heard Kiibo whimper quietly, his body moved on its own.

His arms circling around the spirit’s torso, he pulled him close, softly shushing him while simultaneously placing a hand on the back of Kiibo’s head, petting it gently. Kiibo buried his face in the crook of his neck, quivering hands grasping at Saihara’s jacket.

“D-deep breaths, deep breaths…” Saihara knew Kiibo didn’t need to breathe, but he was hoping it would help him calm down a little nevertheless. Kiibo did as Saihara had instructed, shaky puffs of air brushing Saihara’s shoulder. His grip on Saihara gradually loosening, Kiibo mumbled to himself, voice whisper quiet.

“I don’t want to die…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst?? in MY fic??? its more likely than you think  
> ok but memeing aside im sorry i dont mean to be hurting my boy this much, i just cant help it


	8. Memories

_The blistering summer heat makes him feel dizzy as a bead of sweat rolls down the back of his neck. He pulls on the collar of his uniform, trying to loosen it even more. It feels suffocating._

_As he walks alongside his friends, he tries to recall the last time he drank anything. Before first period, he thinks to himself. That’s not good. He should be staying hydrated; he remembers his father’s warnings about heat stroke during hot weather._

_He’s not paying attention to the conversation anymore, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pair of earbuds. It’s okay. They won’t mind. They know he’s been feeling unusually tired recently, they’ll understand that he needs a little break._

_…_

_Huh?_

_It’s gone._

_He wonders if he’s forgotten it in his room earlier. He’s been misplacing more and more of his belongings recently; finding jumbled cables and USB sticks in miscellaneous locations, a wrench underneath his bed, some tiny screws behind his desk… Still, he didn’t think he would forget about_ this _of all things._

_He was glad summer vacation was only a few more days away._

_\------------------------------------_

_Hunched over in his seat, he watched the colorful lights dancing atop the low table, half-empty drinks scattered around them, the cheering of his friends making his head hurt. He’s been to karaoke before, and has enjoyed it without fail every single time, yet today he just couldn’t get into it. The world spinning around him, he heard his name being called in the distance._

_He apologised. He was fine, really, he was only a little lightheaded. He must have drank a bit too much soda earlier and made himself sick._

_She believes his excuse, giving him an encouraging pat on the back before turning back to the others._

_\------------------------------------_

_He wakes up in the school infirmary. The nurse tells him his classmates brought him there 4 hours ago. He had collapsed in the karaoke booth, apparently._

_He asks if he can go back to his room. The nurse lets him go reluctantly, after he promises he will go straight to bed. He doesn’t mean it. He feels guilty about lying._

_Walking through the hallway on wobbly feet, he notes how it’s pitch black outside. It must be really late. Despite that, though, he still feels hot inside._

_Quietly leaving through the main entrance, he breathes a sigh of relief when his skin comes into contact with the cool air. This is nice. He should take a small walk, so he can enjoy the weather for longer._

_He heads towards the main gate, occasionally tripping a little, but he’s walking slow enough not to fall. He reaches into his pocket in hopes of being able to play some music like he wanted to during the afternoon, but…_

_Ah. It’s still gone. Of course it is; he hasn’t gone back to his room yet._

_He continues walking absentmindedly anyway._

_Hm? The gate is open. It’s already this dark, though, surely it should have been closed by now… Strange. He wonders if they forgot to lock it, or if they were waiting for some kind of delivery in the middle of the night._

_Well, it doesn’t really matter. It’s none of his business, really. Besides, his head is starting to hurt again, so he’d rather not think about it too hard._

_He continues walking, eyes on the ground before him._

_He almost misplaces his foot when he steps off the pavement onto the asphalt._

_Ah, that was close._

_He takes a few more steps, before he hears the sound of a horn in the distance. There are people still driving at this hour, huh?_

_Turning his head to the side, he’s blinded by a bright beam of light._

_He wonders if it’s daytime already._

_\------------------------------------_

Saihara woke up in cold sweat, his heart hammering in his chest, eyes snapping open so suddenly he couldn’t even see anything at first, spots filling his vision. Gasping for air, it took a few seconds for him to comprehend his surroundings; he was lying in his own bed, tangled up in the blanket like some sort of fish in a net, one of his arms buried underneath his pillow.

What time was it…? When did he go to bed again?

Oh, that’s right; Saihara finally recalled, the afternoon’s events flashing through his mind one by one. He had a short conversation with Toujou and Shirogane before leaving for his room, and then…

_That_ happened.

Even remembering the event made his heart race; because of what Kiibo had to go through, but also because as soon as he recalled the way his arms felt around him and just how _soft_ his hair was, he turned completely red, wanting to curl up in bed and pull the covers over his head to hide in embarrassment.

“Are you alright?”

Kiibo stared at him with eyes full of worry, his lips pressed together into a thin line. He seemed to be feeling much better than before, which Saihara was very glad to see - he’d skipped dinner to stay with the spirit and comfort him until his headache subsided, but when he asked him what’d happened, Kiibo was reluctant to give an answer. Well, Saihara could understand; he probably needed a break after something like that, it did cause him to end up in a pretty bad shape after all.

“Yeah, I just had a nightmare” Saihara forced a smile, despite the gross and uncomfortable way his drenched clothes were sticking to him. “Sorry for scaring you.”

That only seemed to make Kiibo feel guilty, though, as well as even more concerned.

“Ah, I apologise for not noticing sooner…”

“N-no, it’s okay” Saihara shook his head. “It was more confusing than scary until that very last bit, so you couldn’t have known.”

While the entire dream _was_ pretty unsettling, Kiibo didn’t have to know.

Having finally managed to get out of his improvised blanket prison, Saihara pushed himself up, heading into the bathroom, but not before grabbing a change of clothes.

“I’ll fix myself up real quick, give me a moment.”

Kiibo nodded, his gaze practically drilling a hole in the back of Saihara’s head until he closed the door. Leaning against it with his back, he focused on steadying his breathing for a little while, the experience still fresh enough in his mind for it to make chills run down his spine. He wasn’t exactly one to have bad dreams often - in fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had one -, and even aside from that, this nightmare was significantly less chaotic than the dreams he would usually have. Something about it felt extremely off to him, but Saihara couldn’t quite put his finger on it yet.

As he stripped off his clothes, placing them inside the laundry basket that Toujou emptied once a week, he wondered if it had meant anything. While he was asleep, everything felt like it made perfect sense - that was usually the way dreams worked -, but at the same time, it was almost like the person whose head he’d found himself inside… was someone else, and not him. Which was odd, to say the least.

Saihara sighed, wiping himself off with a towel. Seriously, one disaster right after another; he hoped this wouldn’t become a trend. He really didn’t need this much adrenaline in his life.

Once he was done changing, he opened the door to a sheepish looking Kiibo waiting for him outside, fidgeting rather intensely.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” he asked, clearly hesitant about it. Perhaps he was afraid that Saihara would react to it badly.

Saihara had to think about his answer for a moment. Did he want to talk? Wouldn’t it just be better if he went back to bed and forgot all about it? He did dislike dwelling on his nightmares...

…

No, he knew he most likely wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again until he figured out what his own brain was trying to tell him by showing him that. Even if he couldn’t come up with an answer in the end, it wouldn’t be like him to just give up from the start.

“Kind of” Saihara finally said, sitting back down on the side of his bed. Kiibo hovered closer, cautious about making any sudden moves. “But I don’t really know if you’d want to listen.”

“Oh, but of course. It _is_ the very least thing I can do for you” Kiibo insisted, looking strangely determined about the whole thing. It was kind of heartwarming, in a way, that he didn’t even think twice about it.

Taking a small sip of the water bottle next to his bed, Saihara began to talk. He told Kiibo as much as he could remember, fumbling for words when it came to more fuzzy details. Kiibo stayed quiet while he was speaking, only showing that he was listening by an encouraging nod every once in a while, his gaze never once leaving Saihara. It was kind of nice, being able to share it with somebody instead of bottling it all up, as he would have before. At some point his hand found its way in Kiibo’s, the spirit’s warm touch calming Saihara down even more. His own hands were ice cold.

When he was done talking, Kiibo didn’t respond straight away - and something about the way he was staring at him made Saihara feel more than a little nervous. Did he say something wrong…?

“I…” Kiibo suddenly spoke up, startling Saihara a little. “I would like to ask you something, but I’m afraid it’s a bit silly…”

“You don’t need to worry about that” Saihara gave him a small smile. “I promise I won’t laugh or anything.”

“…I know” Kiibo said, sounding almost melancholic. “You are a nice person, after all.”

Unsure of how to react to the unexpected compliment, Saihara hoped the darkness of his room would hide his flustered expression.

“I, uhm… Do you think there was a chance, perhaps, that you were experiencing someone else’s memories?” Kiibo seemed embarrassed about the question, as though he had already deemed it impossible in his head. Saihara’s first instinct would have been to brush it off, but…

“Why?” was his only response; he cringed at how skeptical it made him sound.

“I-I’m sorry-“

“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant! I just… I’d like to hear your reasoning, I guess” Saihara stumbled over his own words. People can’t feel your pulse by holding your hand… right?

“O-oh, I see.”

Kiibo looked a little less tense, but Saihara could tell he was still nervous.

“The explanation this would require is a tad lengthy, though.”

“That’s alright. I don’t mind.”

“Would you not rather sleep, and discuss it later?”

More awake than ever by now, Saihara shook his head.

“Well, in that case…” Kiibo’s voice trailed off for a moment, and Saihara thought he was gonna usher him to bed anyway before he broke the silence again. “This is about that one… incident, that took place yesterday.”

Which one…?

“Ah, you mean when I showed you the mp3 player?”

“Yes” Kiibo nodded, and Saihara felt his stomach clench a little. He hoped what Kiibo was about to tell him wasn’t anything too bad; he couldn’t tell from Kiibo’s own unreadable expression. “You see, I managed to remember something in that moment… about when I was still alive.”

“Oh? But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Well…” Kiibo took a small breath; he seemed to be doing that a lot recently. Maybe he picked it up from Saihara. “That may not have been the best way to put it. The memory I recalled was of, uhm… my death.”

Oh.

Saihara’s heart was feeling a lot heavier all of a sudden.

“P-please do not worry about me; it took me by surprise in the moment, but I’m fine now!”

Saihara must have looked rather horrified, because Kiibo hurried to reassure him despite his own lack of composure - he focused on Kiibo’s hand and the warmth it was giving off. _He said he’s fine. Don’t make this any harder for both of you. He was the one who brought it up in the first place._

“So… you remember how you died?”

A straightforward question. Saihara was good at those.

“Yes” Kiibo nodded without hesitation. If the question made him uncomfortable, Saihara couldn’t tell.

And so Kiibo continued.

_Hit by a truck, late at night._

Saihara bit his lip.

Was something like this really possible? Kiibo being a ghost was one thing, but Saihara having a dream made up of his memories, and one _that_ vivid, was just… Weird. Unbelievably so.

Did he really have a choice whether to believe it or not, though?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, this is a bit late! i got home after 6pm and spent a good amount of time dicking around on tumblr with an ouma askblog (great use of my time) so i didnt have quite as much time to write  
> technically i havent gone over my deadline of one chapter per day yet, but im getting really really close,,, will i be able to last?? who knows


	9. What does first love taste like?

Saihara flinched at the sound of the school bell, having been in the middle of spacing out in class. Not on purpose or anything, he was just finding it a bit hard to concentrate after what had happened last night, coupled with his lack of sleep. Kaede had thrown a few worried glances in his direction, but Saihara pretended not to notice, not wanting to make her worry.

He was used to being tired, either way.

“You okay there, dude? You kinda look like a zombie.”

Turning his head to the side, Saihara spotted Momota sitting on top of his desk, legs crossed, chin propped up on a hand. He was probably just exaggerating… But then again, pale skin and dark circles under the eyes didn’t exactly make for a flattering combination.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t get to sleep too much last night” Saihara stifled a yawn, reaching up to fix his hat before it could fall off his head.

“I did keep you up for a while, didn’t I, Saihara?” Ouma popped out of nowhere, as usual, invading Saihara’s personal space by taking a seat on his desk. Saihara choked on air, and Momota watched with wide eyes as he practically coughed his lungs up, both of them horrified.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I really didn’t need to know that-“

“O-Ouma, w-what are you t-talking about!?”

Ouma erupted in a series of giggles, almost falling off the desk in the process.

“Ahaha, if only you could see yourselves right now!” he continued laughing while Saihara buried his face in his hands, having turned bright red, but stopped just as suddenly a few seconds later, the only sign of amusement in his serious expression being the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “That was a lie, of course. You’re so naïve, Momota!”

Before the two could get into a fight, Saihara raised his head to intervene.

“Y-you can’t just go around saying things like that, Ouma!” he reprimanded the other boy, but Ouma didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“Hmm, I can’t? Why not?” he tilted his head with an innocent smile. Saihara could’ve sworn he was trying to challenge him; _‘go on, try and tell me what to do’_. Saihara held his ground.

“It’s common courtesy, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know” Ouma’s head swayed from side to side as he began swinging his legs one by one, letting out a long, low humming sound before he used the momentum to hop back onto the floor. “But I guess since it’s my beloved Saihara saying it, I’ll take your word for it!”

There it was again. Saihara had ignored Ouma calling him that the first few times he’d done it, thinking that Saihara just heard him wrong or Ouma misspoke, but he was definitely doing it on purpose now. Was this his way of trying to mess with him…? It was certainly better than his habit of scaring Amami, but…

Staring at the beaming Ouma, Saihara wondered if he would ever be able to figure him out.

\------------------------------------

“Ah, Akamatsu!”

Lifting her head from the bundle of sheets that she’d been staring at, scribbling tiny notes on it occasionally with a felt tip pen, Kaede waited for Saihara to walk up to her, giving him a friendly smile. Strangely enough, the cafeteria was entirely empty save for her - Toujou must have been doing her chores somewhere else.

“Yeah? What’s up?” she twirled the pen in her hand, scooting over with her chair to make place for him next to her. Saihara was kind of in a hurry, though.

“Do you know where I could find Iruma right about now? I’d like to talk to her about something” Saihara asked, observing curiously as Kaede’s cheeks got a little rosier at the mention of the other girl.

“She’s pretty busy right now, actually” she said, playing with a lock of her hair, her music note shaped hairpins sparkling in the sunlight as she moved her head. “Is it something important?”

“…Yeah” Saihara nodded. It might not have been super urgent, but he knew it’d be better to ask Iruma as soon as possible, especially after everything that happened the previous night and yesterday. The sooner they could figure out what was going on with Kiibo’s memory, the better.

Kaede tapped her chin with a finger, seemingly thinking her response over, before she gestured to the space next to her.

“Well, she might be taking a break soon, so you can wait for her with me” she offered with a wink, moving her papers over to the side. “If it’s something quick, I’m sure she’ll have enough time.”

“Are you sure? You seem kind of busy too.”

“Yeah! It’s fine, I can just finish this later” Kaede beamed. Her cheerfulness was contagious; Saihara couldn’t help a small smile as he sat down next to her.

“In that case, thank you.”

After she finished organizing all her papers into a neat little pile, Kaede turned to the side so they could talk face-to-face, her legs crossed. Leaning on the table with an elbow, she rested the side of her face against the palm of her hand.

Saihara wondered if he could maybe ask her about her… ‘thing’ with Iruma. Sure, it would be somewhat of a personal question, but Kaede has always been outgoing, so surely, if he was polite about it, she would be happy to give an answer. It wouldn’t be that strange of a question, just based on how many people already knew. And it’s not like he would insist if she wouldn’t want to give an answer!

Subtly swallowing the knot in his throat, Saihara decided to give it a shot.

“So, uhm, Akamatsu…”

“Yeah?”

“If you don’t mind me asking… are you and Iruma dating?”

Kaede froze, the light shade of pink adorning her cheeks intensifying, and she smiled bashfully.

“That’s unusually straightforward from you, Saihara” she said, softly chuckling. “I guess we were a bit too obvious about it, huh?”

According to everyone but Saihara, yes.

Averting her gaze, only a little flustered, Kaede seemed more happy about the question than upset, just as Saihara thought she would be. A strange, somewhat giddy expression on her face, she continued playing with her hair.

“Well, I don’t really know if we’re dating… But I do really like her. And she told me she likes me too” she said, her shy mannerisms immediately reverting back to normal as she giggled at Saihara’s reaction. “What’s with that face?”

“A-ah, I’m sorry, I just… I was thinking about what you said, I guess” Saihara stumbled over his own words, Kaede patiently waiting for him to finish. “I don’t really know a lot about romance, so…”

“Have you never had a crush, Saihara?” Kaede asked, sounding surprised.

“I’m not even sure what a crush is supposed to feel like.”

It was a bit embarrassing, having to admit it out loud, but Kaede wouldn’t make fun of him because of something like that. In fact, it was hard to imagine her genuinely making fun of anybody for anything, aside from some lighthearted teasing from time to time.

“Hmm…” she pursed her lips, taking up a thinking pose. “It’s a bit hard to put into words…”

Saihara could only imagine.

“I guess when you have a crush on someone you really enjoy being around them? More than around other people, you know?” Kaede let go of her hair to gesticulate as she talked. “Wanting to be close to them, wanting to hold their hand, wanting to… kiss them.”

Her blush deepened.

“And whenever they give you a compliment, it makes your heart beat really fast and you get butterflies in your stomach, and it’s all you can think about for a while! It’s that kind of feeling” despite being a little nervous about it, Kaede tried her best to explain it to Saihara, looking at him expectantly once she was finished speaking. “Did you ever have someone like that?”

Saihara’s first instinct was to say no, of course. He’d never felt particularly close to anybody before he came to the academy, and he hadn’t really been interested in things like dating either, but…

_But._

That was before he got accepted here. And after Kaede’s little speech, the idea that had been in the back of his mind before - Saihara pushing it back again and again before he could think too much about it - has fully manifested itself.

He did have someone in mind.

But was something like that… okay? Something the average person would never think about, something that would inevitably end up hurting him in the end, something that couldn’t possibly work out well for either of the two…

Was Saihara allowed to have these feelings?

…

“Well, would you look at that; if it isn’t the resident sleepyhead!”

Saihara flinched at that, turning around, away from Kaede, to see none other than Iruma marching up to the two, her uniform a little burnt in various spots. Her left sleeve also appeared to be… smoking?

“You better not be putting any moves on her, you goddamn pervert” Iruma glared him down, tongue as sharp as ever, crossing her arms. “You might infect her with your sleeping sickness!”

“I wasn’t doing anything like that!”

Saihara had to remind himself why he was here in the first place.

“I just want to ask you about something” he said, forcefully composing his own tone. This was more important than defending his ‘honor’ or whatever… Besides, Iruma probably wouldn’t have let him win an argument easily, anyway. Not unless he snapped at her, and he wasn’t the type to seriously get mad over something like that.

Iruma opened her mouth, presumably to chew him out even more while bombarding him with insults, but as soon as her eyes met Kaede’s, behind Saihara, her attitude visibly changed. Resembling a sulking child just a tiny bit, she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, spill it.”

Saihara decided to cut right to the chase.

“Do you perhaps know of any reliable methods that could help someone with amnesia? Like some kind of machine, or something…”

Iruma seemed surprised enough by that to forget herself and actually respond politely for once.

“…That’s not a question I get asked every day” she winced, clearing her throat, quickly back to her usual self. “Not that it matters at all! Do I look like a brain surgeon to you, asshole?”

Taken aback, Saihara prepared to apologise, but Iruma didn’t give him a chance to.

“Well, I do know _someone_ who could help you out, though. Sorta.”

“Uhm… what exactly do you mean by ‘sorta’?”

“I meant what I said!” Iruma placed her hands on her hips, a frustrated puff of air leaving her mouth. “I’ll hook you two up since you asked so nicely, so just sit on your ass and twiddle your thumbs or something in the meantime.”

Disregarding Iruma’s behavior and its lack of politeness, this was good news; just what Saihara had been hoping for. If this works out in the end, they might be able to get answers. A lot of them.

Feeling rather excited in the heat of the moment, Saihara bowed deeply, giving Iruma a sincere thank you - who, naturally, freaked out right away, really bad at handling polite gestures like that. Kaede’s shoulders were shaking from held in laughter as she softly shushed a stuttering Iruma, giving her a peck on the cheek. Saihara excused himself and ran off, flustered.

Things might finally start making some sense soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its 10 minutes before midnight and i have a test tomorrow  
> i made it,,, but at what cost


	10. Three is a crowd

Closing his textbook with a sigh, Saihara stretched his back, taking a small sip from his water bottle. Iruma had gone and talked to that acquaintance of hers that she mentioned on the very same day Saihara had asked her about it, but she hasn’t told Saihara anything yet since then. According to Kaede, Iruma’s friend - were they friends? - had a pretty difficult personality, so Saihara could understand why it was taking so long, not to mention they might have been busy with other things, but he still couldn’t help but feel a little anxious about it.

Turning to the side, Saihara observed Kiibo with sleepy, half-lidded eyes, leaning on the desk with an elbow and propping his chin up with it. Almost a week had passed since the incident with Kiibo’s memories and whatnot, and Kiibo seemed to be over it for the most part as well - aside from the occasional way he would stare into the distance whenever he spaced out, a faraway, slightly melancholic look in his eyes, but even that was happening less and less as time went on.

After carefully considering his options, Saihara had simply placed the mp3 player on the small, circular table in a corner of the room; he figured it would be easier for Kiibo if he could come and go as he pleased, after all this time, but he didn’t want to accidentally set off another headache again, so he figured he would let Kiibo decide when he was ready for it. To Kiibo’s credit, it only took him a day or two before he was willing to touch the device again, and once he was able to do that without the incident repeating itself, he didn’t seem to want to let go of it much. “It’s rather strange, but holding onto it feels… calming” he’d told Saihara after he asked him about it. Saihara supposed that was a good thing.

As for the cards, he finally took care of them after he spoke to Iruma, one of the teachers offering to give them back to their original owner, the guy being one of her previous students. Saihara happily agreed - it was one less thing to worry about, and he would’ve preferred to avoid having to make excuses for bringing them back so late anyway.

“Is something the matter?” Kiibo’s gaze met his own, and Saihara instantly remembered the other major thing that’s been on his mind the entire week. That is, his talk with Kaede. He’d been trying his best to just forget about it, but apparently his own brain had conspired against him, making him recall Kaede’s words at the worst times possible. And he thought he had concentration problems _only_ when he was sleep-deprived…

Saihara shook his head.

“I was just thinking about some stuff.”

“About your conversation with the inventor classmate of yours?”

“Well, yeah” Saihara replied after a bit of thinking. “That too, I guess. Iruma is trying her best, though. I can’t really blame her, even if things don’t end up working out” he shrugged, rubbing one of his eyes. It wasn’t _that_ late in the day yet; falling asleep now would mess with his normal sleep schedule.

“Was she not… suspicious, when you brought up the topic?” Kiibo hesitantly asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Not that there was any real need to, not with the person in question being Iruma of all people. She could pretend to act tough as much as she wanted to, she was still a huge pushover at her core, and gave up on finding out anything after Saihara had dodged the question three times in a row.

“A little, but it should be fine. I’m honestly more worried about the person we’ll be dealing with afterwards…”

“Her friend?”

“Yeah. They might not agree to help unless I tell them about you.”

Kiibo had probably thought of that as well; he didn’t seem very surprised, instead looking as though he was itching to bring something up, but wasn’t sure how. Saihara raised a brow.

“Are you alright, Kiibo?”

“A-ah, yes, I’m fine” Kiibo quickly looked down, aimlessly fiddling with the mp3 player’s buttons, earbuds hanging around his neck, having removed them at the start of the conversation. “I was merely wondering about something… An idea, I suppose. But I do not really know if you would approve of it.”

“Well, sharing it can’t hurt, right?” Saihara gave him an encouraging smile. Surely, it couldn’t have been anything too bad…

“…Maybe not.”

Kiibo looked back up.

“I have given this quite a bit of thought” he started hesitantly. “Could we perhaps ask Ouma to help?”

Stunned, Saihara’s only visible reaction was a blank stare. Kiibo had most likely anticipated that he wouldn’t be a big fan of the idea, and was quick to explain himself.

“He is your friend, is he not? I realise he tends to do quite unreasonable things sometimes, but I believe it would be safer to tell him, rather than a complete stranger.”

Kiibo had a point there. Saihara knew Kiibo didn’t like Ouma very much; his disregard for others’ personal boundaries was the exact opposite of Kiibo’s own morals after all… So if even he was suggesting this as a possible option, it was definitely something to consider - Saihara was very much aware of that, but he also knew Ouma was highly unpredictable. Would it be worth it to take a risk like this now…?

Well, if he did try to tell somebody, they most likely wouldn’t believe him. He was known to tell lies all the time, after all, so in that regard he was one of the better options they had… Not to mention his ability to tell such convincing lies was pretty much what they needed.

This was shaping up to be a real dilemma.

“…I don’t know. I’d like a little longer to think about this, but I guess we don’t really have that much time” Saihara bit the inside of his cheek - bad thinking habit -, feeling extremely conflicted. Iruma could come up to him pretty much any second after this much waiting, so if he was gonna decide he had to do it fast.

…

Well, it’s part of a detective’s job to take certain risks.

“…I’ll ask him tomorrow” Saihara said, unable to come up with any better ideas, having given up.

Maybe he was worried about nothing; maybe Ouma will actually be nice about it and help him out, as a friend. It was possible; while he did enjoy messing around with people, he wasn’t exactly a bad guy. Even if he did insist on calling himself an evil supreme leader.

Kiibo seemed okay with Saihara’s answer - if only a little worried, possibly -, so Saihara figured now would be a time as good as any to switch topics.

“What were you listening to, by the way?”

Kiibo must have been caught off-guard by a question like that, as it took him a few seconds to give a proper answer.

“Ah, I have not gotten to hear music often in a long time now, so… I am not quite sure. I am not very good at telling apart different genres” Kiibo admitted, a little red in the face. He offered Saihara one of the earbuds shyly. “Would you like to listen, perhaps?”

Saihara’s heart picked up again. Would that… be alright? Wouldn’t physical proximity be bad, in his current state, while he was still getting confused by his own feelings?

…

He walked over to the bed, taking a seat next to Kiibo, accepting the earbuds and plugging them in, Kiibo doing the same with the other half.

The pleasant sound of slow jazz playing in his ears, as Saihara placed his hand on the bed, he felt a hand slightly brush his own by accident.

The touch felt warm.

\------------------------------------

“Hey, Ouma, could we maybe talk for a moment?”

Everyone around him shoving their textbooks into their bags and escaping into freedom through the classroom door, Saihara stood by Ouma’s desk, watching the shorter boy look up with a curious smile, overjoyed that Saihara had approached him. With a sly grin, he pushed himself up, hands on his hips as he stood on his tiptoes, staring up at Saihara from under his hat as he would often do whenever he was amused by something.

“What’s this? Does my beloved Saihara have something to tell me?” despite the childish gleam in his eyes and the teasing tone of his voice, he seemed to be genuinely pleased that Saihara was the one to initiate conversation this time. “I’m listening, I’m listening!”

“Uhm…” Saihara took a small step back so Ouma wouldn’t be invading his personal space anymore, clearing his throat. “Are you free right now? I have something important to tell you, but it would be bad if someone else heard us, so I’d rather we talked in my room.”

Ouma seemed even more interested, practically bouncing up and down as he nodded repeatedly.

“Why, of course! I always have time for you, Saihara!” he exclaimed, grabbing Saihara’s sleeve and starting to pull him towards the door. “Well, what’s the holdup? Let’s go, let’s go, I can’t wait!”

Saihara reluctantly let Ouma drag him outside, the supreme ruler cheerfully humming under his breath as he guided Saihara to his room, not letting go of him for a single second until they got to the door. When they passed Amami on the way, Saihara took the lead for a bit before Ouma could pull one of his jumpscare pranks on him, wanting him to have a bit of peace every once in a while. Ouma didn’t seem to mind as much as he thought he would.

When they arrived in front of the door, Saihara turned to Ouma for a moment with a serious expression, wanting to make sure he took all the precautions he could beforehand.

“It might be a bit oblivious, but what I’m going to tell you is a secret, alright? You have to promise not to tell anybody.”

“Hmm? You’re trusting _me_ with a secret?” Ouma tilted his head to the side, his violet eyes staring straight into Saihara’s own with rare intensity. “Remember, I’m a liar. Even if I promise that I won’t say a word, I could still go and tell someone afterwards.”

Saihara stayed silent, enduring the pressure of Ouma’s all-knowing gaze, trying his best not to lose his cool. Even if Ouma’s threat - or bluff, depending on Ouma’s intentions - made him feel uneasy, he couldn’t let him know.

A moment later, Ouma stuck his tongue out with a wink.

“Well, if it’s something important, I can totally keep it! A good leader needs to be able to do that, after all” he laughed, just like Saihara thought he would.

Ouma was certainly mischievous, but his pranks were always harmless.

Saihara opened the door, letting Ouma enter before following him inside, closing and locking the door behind him. If Ouma noticed, he didn’t comment on it; instead, he was busy spinning in slow circles, taking in the sight of Saihara’s room with the joy of a child at an amusement park. Once he was done examining everything, he turned back to Saihara.

“So, what is it? You’ve made me really curious now, you know!”

Taking a small breath, Saihara tried his best to calm his nerves.

“Kiibo, I think now should be alright” his voice only sounded a little nervous. That was good.

Before Ouma could say anything, Kiibo had appeared behind Saihara - whether he was trying to hide behind him or just happened to be there, Saihara wasn’t sure -, and Saihara could’ve sworn something akin to disappointment and confusion flashed in Ouma’s eyes for a second before they started sparkling with excitement.

“Wow!! Is that what I think it is? I can’t believe you have a ghost friend, Saihara!” he was hopping up and down, trying to peer at the mildly intimidated Kiibo over Saihara’s shoulders, the latter standing his ground timidly to make sure Ouma wouldn’t scare Kiibo too much.

The whole situation was kind of ironic.

“This is so, so cool!”

“Ouma-“

“Hey, if you phase through me, will I be able to feel it? Will I get shivers? Goosebumps?”

“Ouma, he can’t go through people-“

Saihara yelped as Ouma practically climbed on top of him, reaching out a hand towards a startled Kiibo.

“Really!? Can I touch you? Let me touch you!” an arm hooked around the back of Saihara’s neck, hanging a foot or two in the air, Ouma flailed his free hand, Kiibo flattening himself against the door as much as possible, watching Ouma’s every move with wide eyes.

“Please do not touch me…!” he ducked as Ouma swiped his arm right above his head, Saihara struggling to keep his balance with Ouma swinging around so much.

“Come on, just for a bit! I promise it won’t hurt… probably!”

“Ouma, I’m gonna fall-“

Saihara almost bit his tongue as he tripped over his own feet, sending all three of them tumbling to the ground into a messy pile of limbs and torsos. Ouma was lucky enough to end up at the very top, accidentally elbowing Saihara in the side as he rolled off the other two. Saihara made a high-pitched noise. It didn’t exactly hurt, but he was a little ticklish.

“Oh, sorry!” Ouma giggled. Kiibo crawled out from underneath Saihara, looking mildly traumatized, immediately flying upwards and sticking to the ceiling. He glared Ouma down with a scandalized expression, still in disbelief over his careless behavior. Ouma didn’t seem apologetic at all; rather, he puffed his cheeks in annoyance, stomping his feet. “Hey, that’s not fair! You can’t fly, that’s cheating!”

“It is not!” Kiibo argued, while Saihara reached under the bed to pull out his hat - Ouma’s stunt had knocked it off his head -, dusting it off and putting it on again. He turned to the other two, who were staring each other down in discomfort and - possibly mock - frustration respectively. Saihara let out a sigh.

“Ouma, this is my… friend, Kiibo. Please don’t bully him in the future.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ouma please,, control urself my child  
> also if any of you guys wanna take a guess at who this friend of iruma is (no theyre not from ndrv3, but a different work in the danganronpa universe) feel free, unless its too obvious lol


	11. Liar, liar

Listening intently but interrupting at every chance he got nevertheless, Ouma swung his legs back and forth as he sat on the bed, Saihara telling him everything he needed to know. It was a long story to begin with, but with Ouma adding commentary and irrelevant questions left and right, it took enough time for Saihara’s throat to dry out from the constant talking. He drank a bit of water.

Ouma was being surprisingly cooperative; “How exciting!” he’d exclaimed, clearly more interested in what they needed him for than anything else from the conversation. Well, it may have been like a prank to him in a way. A really elaborate prank, something that only a person of his caliber could pull off. And if there was something that Ouma enjoyed above all else, it was a prank that also acted as a challenge.

Well, that was fine.

Kiibo still hadn’t warmed up to him, naturally - he was trying very hard to hide it, but having Ouma around had obviously made him a thousand times more uncomfortable. Even so, he didn’t say a word about it. He was the one who had made the suggestion after all, and he’d already made up his mind beforehand. Hopefully Ouma would mellow out with time, otherwise things would become slightly complicated.

Either way, there was no going back now. Once Saihara finally finished speaking, Ouma nodded with a smug grin.

“Yeah, I can definitely do that! But I do wanna know…” he tilted his head with a wide-eyed, curious look. “What will you do if he wants to examine me? I can play the part just fine, but I can’t make miracles happen, you know!”

“We’ll just have to find a way around that” Saihara said, clearly not fully confident in his own abilities for something like that. Ouma held up a peace sign as he giggled.

“Well, if anything happens, you can always count on me! I’m really good at lying, you know?”

It seemed like a strange thing to brag about, but Saihara kept that bit to himself.

Iruma contacted him the very next day. It was kind of a relief - the fact that he could get it over with soon and be able to stop feeling so anxious about it was good news -, but at the same time, Saihara couldn’t help but doubt their plan. What if something goes wrong? What if Kiibo gets hurt? Sure, he couldn’t sustain any injuries, but he could feel pain. And even if he would turn out fine in the end, Saihara really would have preferred to avoid it.

Then again, worrying about it so much wasn’t any help; if anything, it was probably doing the opposite.

At least he was able to actually get some sleep.

\------------------------------------

The sound of his alarm going off roused Saihara from his sleep, and he opened his eyes with great difficulty to squint at the time and date displayed on his cellphone. Then he remembered; today was the day. It was Sunday, and he’d be going out for the second week in a row now; despite the reason for it, Saihara was starting to feel like a normal high school student, with friends and whatnot.

Well, normal for a Super High School Level.

After he’d gotten ready and dressed, Saihara checked the time once again. 10 in the morning - he still had time to catch Toujou’s delicious breakfast, unless she had decided to make it earlier than usual. Saying a quick bye to Kiibo, with the other absentmindedly returning it with a wave, Saihara left to get some food while he still had the chance.

Breakfast was pretty nice. Toujou did a stellar job with every single dish, as always; Momota on Saihara’s left was eagerly shoveling food into his mouth, occasionally exchanging a word or two with Harukawa, usually ending in either her rolling her eyes or expressing her annoyance with various irritated remarks. Kaede poked Saihara in the side with her elbow, gesturing towards the two.

“Aren’t they just adorable together?”

Saihara didn’t understand romance one bit.

He finished breakfast rather soon, ignoring the questionable glances thrown his way when instead of excusing himself and immediately leaving like he always would, he stayed a little longer. He just needed to be in a relaxed state for a while - not that talking to Kiibo a little would’ve been unpleasant, but he didn’t wanna risk accidentally blurting something out about his… _issues._ If he was gonna ask anybody about that it absolutely was not going to be the person in question.

Saihara subtly looked to the right, gaze falling on Kaede. Maybe…

No, no, bad idea, forget about it. Regardless of the fact that Iruma wouldn’t let him get off easy if he tried to talk to her in private - and he _definitely_ was not gonna ask her with Iruma around -, she would’ve probably just told him to confess everything. That might’ve worked for someone so outgoing and straightforward as Kaede, but for someone like Saihara, who couldn’t even be sure whether what he was feeling was even a crush, constantly doubting himself, there was no way for it to work out.

What _does_ separate romantic love from platonic love, anyway? Wanting to get close to somebody? Wanting to hold hands? Don’t these things apply to really close friends as well?

Would it be wanting to… kiss? Did Saihara want to kiss him…?

He covered his face as he flushed in embarrassment, Kaede raising a brow at him.

He really had to stop overthinking everything.

\------------------------------------

Messy hair, sloppy clothes, and a permanent expression many people would refer to as a ‘resting bitch face’ was not quite what Saihara had been expecting from someone who was apparently friends with Iruma. Narrowed eyes scanned a sheet of paper, not even bothering to look up at the newly arrived duo - or trio, from their perspective. Matsuda Yasuke, bearing the title of Super High School Level Neurologist, was definitely not a type of person you’d see every day.

Now Saihara understood what ‘difficult personality’ had meant.

Apart from Matsuda, there were two other people in the room, hard at work. The first one was a woman wearing a huge, red scarf, obscuring the bottom half of her face with it; she introduced herself as Gekkougahara Miaya, the Super High School Level Therapist, using a text to speech program, Saihara assuming she was too shy to speak by herself. She was sitting in a wheelchair, busily typing some kind of document.

The second person appeared to be the youngest of the three - a very short, effeminate boy with long eyelashes and soft features -, who was also the only one to properly greet Saihara and Ouma, smiling politely all the while. Even his voice was feminine enough that if he were to dress up as a girl, most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference; this was Fujisaki Chihiro, the Super High School Level Programmer.

With Matsuda lazily lying across the couch in the corner, Fujisaki took it upon himself to explain some things to the newcomers, after offering them some tea. Ouma was the only one who’d accepted.

“You see, we are currently working on a program which helps rehabilitate trauma victims” he gestured towards the mountains of paperwork scattered across the room, just barely enough free space for someone to be able to carefully maneuver through the room. There were also multiple piles of manga in Matsuda’s corner, which didn’t exactly help with the space issue, but Matsuda didn’t seem like the type to be concerned with that.

The program Fujisaki was talking about was apparently still in a prototype stage; they had tested it a couple of times on volunteer test subjects, but the results remained far from perfect, despite their best efforts. The fact that they hadn’t given up, though, was rather admirable in Saihara’s eyes. They were only a group of three, and yet they were dead set on accomplishing their goal - they deserved plenty of respect.

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t have rambled so much” Fujisaki said all of a sudden, having reached the end of his speech. He seemed a little flustered; getting carried away while talking about his passion was something Saihara was sure most students at the academy could sympathize with.

“Ah, no, it was all very interesting” Saihara shook his head. Fujisaki was visibly relieved. “There were bits and pieces that were a bit hard to understand, but I get the general idea.”

“I’m glad!” Fujisaki clapped his hands together. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, we should discuss the issue of your friend. Matsuda is the expert here on the matter, so please do your best to answer his questions with honesty.”

Ouma, having been almost completely silent the entire time, was sipping his tea with his eyes closed. It was weird, watching him put on a slightly scared and confused act, only speaking up when he had to, pretending to be entirely relying on Saihara. He was doing a great job of it, though.

Unwilling to even sit up, Matsuda put the paper aside for now, propping his head up on a hand as he spoke.

“How severe is the case of your friend? Are you aware of any possible causes? Have you had him examined in a hospital?”

He didn’t speak fast; rather, the dull tone of his voice made him sound as though he was talking in a half-asleep state. In his current position, it was certainly possible.

“…For certain reasons, we can’t take him to a hospital” Saihara responded, Matsuda’s stare practically drilling a hole in his skull. He didn’t seem very interested in analyzing him, though, instead simply content with giving him a dirty look, as though Saihara had personally insulted him. Maybe he just didn’t like talking to people.

“’For certain reasons’? What, is your friend a serial killer or something?” Matsuda raised a brow.

“N-no, but…”

“Hospitals are scary.”

Both Matsuda and Saihara’s attention was diverted towards Ouma as he joined the conversation, placing his now empty cup on the table.

“Hospitals are scary, so I’m not going” Ouma declared, his voice trembling; even Saihara believed it for a second. Matsuda stared at him without saying a word for several seconds, something flashing in his eyes, then averted his gaze temporarily with a huff.

“Suit yourself.”

“Aren’t you going to interrogate him, like you always do?” Fujisaki called across the room.

“I honestly couldn’t care less.”

Saihara swallowed.

“As for what could’ve caused it…”

He had a theory.

Everything physical was out of the question; sicknesses, blunt force trauma, oxygen deprivation… Saihara knew all of those were capable of causing memory loss, but none of them could apply to Kiibo. Which meant that going by the rules of medical science, there was only one possibility.

Saihara took a small breath.

“I believe it was because of psychological trauma.”

A stack of empty plastic cups fell over behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay im gonna say this right now: dont expect Extremely Accurate and Realistic explanations for science-y stuff because im just writing this for fun,, but that said, i will at least try and make it believable (if nothing else, in the danganronpa universe lmao)  
> also its been?? a while since i read danganronpa zero but i really really like matsuda so hopefully i can portray his personality accurately


	12. Taking the first step

“Losing almost all your memories because of trauma… You realise how far-fetched that sounds, right?”

Matsuda placed his arms behind his head, squirming a bit on the couch to find the most comfortable position. He stopped bothering with eye contact, instead closing his eyes, as though he was trying to take a nap.

“I… yes, but I have very good reason to believe that” Saihara nodded, determined. He himself would have most likely had some major doubts, if he was in Matsuda’s place… But he knew something that Matsuda didn’t.

Surely, nothing else could cause more trauma than the experience of dying - which was exactly what happened to Kiibo, and as such, Saihara had faith in his theory. He couldn’t tell this to Matsuda, of course, which decreased his chances of convincing the neurologist quite a bit, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about that.

“I’m guessing by that tone that you’ll refuse to share them yet again.”

Saihara didn’t answer.

Matsuda opened his eyes, turning his head lazily to the side, his piercing blue eyes staring straight into Saihara’s own.

“You better be smarter than you’re making yourself sound like, otherwise I fear for your grades” his tone was humorless as he spoke, clearly meaning every single word he said. Saihara opened his mouth to reply, but Matsuda held up a hand, gesturing for him to wait. “I’m not done.”

Ouma’s gaze shifted from one to another in a matter of milliseconds, as though he was watching a fast-paced ping pong match, but he didn’t say anything, only clenching his fists in his lap hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. Saihara was almost completely sure he was doing that on purpose.

“I’ve a proposal.”

Sluggishly moving his hand to point at Ouma, Matsuda didn’t falter.

“Your friend can become our guinea pig.”

Ouma visibly stiffened, unblinking eyes staring at the neurologist in something akin to dread, his mouth a thin, pale line as he pursed his lips. Saihara’s hands were sweating, and he didn’t dare move a muscle as he frantically analyzed what that could mean, but Fujisaki was faster and spoke up before he could reply.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? The memory related functions of the program are still untested” he didn’t sound quite as uncertain as Saihara felt like he should be, instead seemingly more concerned about Matsuda’s intentions than the issue of experimenting.

“That’s the point; we need someone to test them out on” Matsuda rolled his eyes. “Don’t act like an idiot, because I know you’re not. The functions are polished enough not to carry any serious risk, so unless these two are lying, the worst thing that can happen is the shrimp getting a mean headache.”

Fujisaki didn’t appear fazed by Matsuda’s retort; he must’ve been used to the latter’s attitude by now, as he turned his attention back to the screen he’d been working on.

“And you shouldn’t act like you hate everyone around you, because we know you don’t.”

“Is that supposed to be the smartass way of saying that I should mind my manners?”

“You could certainly be a bit nicer.”

“You’ve finally grown out of your crybaby phase and now you want me to stop? What would be the point?” Matsuda closed his eyes again, letting his hand flop back down, and Fujisaki simply shook his head with a smile. Gekkougahara looked between the two as though she wanted to interrupt, but went back to her work in the end without a word.

That’s friendship for you.

“Either way” Matsuda addressed Saihara, “here’s the gist of it. If your friend’s memory loss is indeed due to trauma, our Hope Restoration Program should be able to fix it in theory, since one of its functions is memory manipulation. Technically speaking, its main purpose would be erasing traumatic memories, and thus curing the patient, but as it’s capable of seeing into your head, so to speak, and scan your memories, it should have the ability to help you regain lost memories. Got that? Or do you need me to explain it like I’m talking to a 3-year-old?”

“Ah, uhm…” Saihara found himself at a loss, before he cleared his throat and continued. “Yeah, I get the idea. You said there are no major risks, right…?”

“Good grief, you have ears” Matsuda rolled over, stretching his arms a little before placing them back under his head as a pillow. “The only risk we’re taking is whether or not your friend can endure a bit of a memory strain; unless he’s a living vegetable with the IQ of a plate of sushi, the worst pain he’ll experience is what you’d get after staring at a computer screen for 2 days straight. If he can’t take that much, that’s just sad.”

That did sound unpleasant, but definitely nothing dangerous; Saihara would’ve hesitated to trust anyone else, but Matsuda’s confidence in his own skills was pretty justified, seeing as how he’d graduated from Hope’s Peak. Besides, both Gekkougahara and Fujisaki seemed to silently agree with him on the matter.

“So? I don’t have all day, you know; either take it or leave it, don’t waste my time.”

“I- I accept!” Ouma’s voice rang loud and clear, surprising everyone in the room. He placed a hand on Saihara’s knee under the table, signaling for Saihara to let him speak. Swallowing nervously, he went on. “Refusing treatment b-because you’re scared… that wouldn’t solve anything, so…”

Matsuda replied after a few seconds of silence, his voice strangely melancholic.

“I’m glad we agree.”

He sat up, shaking his locks of hair out of his eyes, cracking his neck.

“Fujisaki, do me a favor and please show them how the program works. Gekkougahara, you can… just do whatever, the two of us will handle this.”

Said woman nodded, and Fujisaki stood up without any objections, gesturing for the boys to follow him. Stepping over various documents and printouts, he walked to the door in the back, pulling it open with some difficulty. The room wasn’t too big to begin with - about the size of a standard living room -, so Saihara wasn’t too surprised when the new room in the back turned out to be even tinier. Most of the space was occupied by a large machine, surrounded by miscellaneous equipment.

Fujisaki picked up one of the helmets laid out on a table in the back as well as what looked like a walkie talkie, handing the latter over to Saihara.

“Alright, let me give you a quick overview of what’s going to happen” he started, pausing for Saihara and Ouma to nod. “From your perspective, the experiment will be very simple. You” he turned to Ouma, “will be wearing this thing right here” he held up the helmet. “I’m not entirely sure if I could explain the entire process, but all you really need to know is that we’ll be using it to scan your brain, and also monitor it during the process. We’ll be closing this door during the procedure to remove any unnecessary stimuli, but you” he turned to Saihara again, “will stay here and tell us if anything unusual happens. Even if it’s just something like a nosebleed, okay?”

“Y-yeah, okay. Uhm…”

Fujisaki stared patiently at Saihara as he fumbled for words.

“How long will it take?” he finally asked, and Fujisaki crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression.

“Hmm… It depends on your friend’s mental state, I suppose” at the puzzled look Saihara gave him, he continued. “He’ll only need to wear it for around half an hour or so, but the actual process is much longer. We can’t recover all of his memories straight away, as that would put quite a bit of strain on his brain, as well as his psychological wellbeing, but he will gradually start to recall events one by one as time goes on. How long that will take, though, will completely depend on how much his subconscious will be willing to work with us; in other words, how much his brain wants him to remember.”

Yeah, that sounded reasonable. Ouma took the helmet, and Fujisaki gestured towards the previous room.

“I’ll be going now, unless you have any other questions. It takes a few minutes to set up everything.”

After Fujisaki made sure they knew what they were getting into, he left through the door, closing it behind him. Saihara let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding; the room was soundproof, by the looks of it, not to mention the door took multiple seconds to open properly, so there was next to no chance of them getting caught for the moment.

Kiibo finally phased into existence, floating a little behind Saihara. Ouma immediately shoved the helmet into his hands with a grin, bouncing on his feet.

“You better be grateful, Saihara! I wouldn’t do this just for anybody, you know?” he placed his hands on his hips, proudly puffing his chest out. “Not that it wasn’t a piece of cake!” he giggled.

“Arrogance is not an attractive trait, Ouma” Kiibo sent him a flat look, more scolding than seriously annoyed, placing the helmet on his head. Hopefully the fact that he was still partially see-through wouldn’t cause any complications.

“Implying that I want you to feel attracted to me? Silly Kiibo; I only have eyes for one person, and one person alone” Ouma declared, which caught Saihara’s attention. Turning to the shorter boy, Saihara couldn’t help but probe a little.

“Huh? Does that mean… you have a crush on somebody?”

“Yep!” Ouma nodded, delighted at Saihara’s reaction. “I’m not gonna tell you who it is, though. If you wanna know, you gotta figure it out by yourself!”

Saihara opened his mouth, ready to take a guess, when an idea formed in the back of his mind.

If Ouma liked somebody…

…

No, surely, that couldn’t be it. He was just overanalyzing things, or misunderstanding something.

Otherwise…

“Everything okay in there?”

As Fujisaki’s staticky, slightly distorted voice sounded from the walkie talkie, Saihara flinched. Lifting the device, he held down the push-to-talk button.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. We’re just a bit nervous is all.”

“Don’t worry, everyone is at first. We’re almost done with the preparations, so please don’t remove the helmet until we tell you to.”

“Yeah, got it.”

Fujisaki didn’t reply after that, and Saihara looked at Kiibo, unsure if he should say anything. Ouma had taken a seat on one of the folding chairs lying around, taking up the most comfortable position that he could with the available space. Saihara remained standing.

“Please do not worry about me” Kiibo said, as if he’d read Saihara’s mind. “I _am_ already dead, after all. I will be alright.”

“Don’t say it like that” Saihara sighed, a dull pain in his chest at the sad smile Kiibo gave in return. It was true, but…

He just didn’t want to be reminded.

As the machine made a long beeping noise, Saihara went quiet, not wanting to get in the way of the experiment, opting to let his gaze wander silently instead. Half an hour wasn’t too much, but it seemed impossibly long with nothing to occupy his mind with that wasn’t just gonna make him even more anxious. Ouma didn’t look too content either, but at least he was calm.

Well, of course he was. He didn’t know Kiibo the way Saihara did, after all. If something happened to him, if Kiibo was gone one day, Ouma could easily just shrug it off. Saihara wasn’t even sure if Ouma actually thought of Kiibo as a person, and not just a manifestation of a previously fictional concept that he could be entertained by.

But Saihara knew better. Even if he wasn’t alive, Kiibo was still very much human. He had his own set of quirks, things that he liked, things that he disliked; talking to him was just like talking to any of his classmates. He was a little awkward and oblivious at times, but he was also very considerate and kind, and whenever Saihara was feeling down about something, he saw it as his own duty to cheer him up.

He was special, but… it wasn’t because he was a spirit. It was because Saihara could trust him, and because Saihara cared about him… a lot.

His hand twitching a little, Saihara stared at the ground.

He wanted to hold Kiibo’s hand again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i bent canon quite a bit in the case of the neo world program but yknow, things like that just gotta happen sometimes  
> also matsuda is still fun as fuck to write  
> BY THE WAY while i was writing this my laptop crashed and i had to rewrite like 3 giant paragraphs,, im cursed


	13. Stay close to me

Half an hour passed by just as slowly as Saihara predicted it would. Ouma seemed like he wanted to start a conversation the entire time, but he never did; Saihara almost did himself, but thought better. Unnecessary talking might just make things more complicated for Kiibo.

By the time they’d gone over the 30 minute mark, Saihara felt as though he’d fallen asleep standing up: standing motionlessly and staring at the floor at his feet, his legs a little strained from the lack of rest. But then Fujisaki’s voice broke the silence, rousing him from his hypnotized state, causing him to lift his head as he raised the walkie talkie in his hand.

“We should be finished, I believe. You may remove the helmet now; we’ll get the door open in the meantime.”

Having heard it himself, Kiibo took off the helmet, placing it where Fujisaki had gotten it from, a strange kind of rigidness to his movements. Saihara scanned his face for any clues - whether the experiment worked, and whether Kiibo was happy with the results or not -, but apart from his stiff body language, he wasn’t making Saihara’s job too easy. Wearing a mildly distraught expression - which really could have been because of _anything_ -, he nodded to Saihara before turning invisible again, making sure Matsuda and Fujisaki wouldn’t catch on.

Was… that good? Did that mean the experiment worked?

Ouma stood up, immediately back to his timid façade, with a complexion much more pale than usual. As the door opened, Ouma stayed still, waiting for one of the two to say something. Matsuda seemed to be content with scowling, but Fujisaki clapped his hands together, preferring to inform Saihara rather than wait for him to ask him a - from Fujisaki’s perspective - rather silly question.

“Please give it some time” was one of the first things he’d said. “In theory, it should take an hour or two for it to start working with actual memories and not just familiar feelings and whatnot. So if your friend experiences déjà vu at any point in the near future, this will be the most likely cause.

“Ah- yeah, alright” Saihara made a mental note. While he handed the walkie talkie back to Fujisaki, Matsuda stared at Ouma through half-lidded eyes, the latter’s gaze examining a spot somewhere on the ground. Well, he didn’t seem suspicious, not to Saihara at least, so that should have been fine.

“We’d like you to send us a report of any notable changes in his condition at least once every week. Every day would be much better, as I’m sure Matsuda agrees with me” Matsuda let out a groan, “but seeing as how you may not have the time, once a week should be fine. I’ll give you an email address.”

Saihara nodded as Fujisaki scribbled a rather long string of letters onto a small piece of paper, handing it over for Saihara to shove it into his pocket. Well, this bit was pretty much what he’d expected - Matsuda would have probably eaten him alive if he’d have tried to refuse, so Saihara would just have to make time for it from now on. Not that it would take that much time… probably.

“Now get out, we’re extremely busy as you can see” Matsuda waved his hand in the direction of the exit, clearly unable to wait to get rid of them so he could go back to doing… whatever he’d been doing before. Lounging around, checking documents.

Honestly, Saihara didn’t mind. He needed an excuse to be able to interrogate Kiibo anyway, and Ouma was most likely of the same opinion, so after politely saying goodbye to the trio, Saihara led Ouma through the door outside.

Thinking time was near.

\------------------------------------

Shaking Ouma off somehow was definitely the hardest part. Saihara felt kind of bad - after Ouma had gone out of his way to help out, it just seemed unfair to get him to leave, but Saihara knew Kiibo might not feel comfortable enough discussing anything unless it was only the two of them. Well, Saihara couldn’t blame him for that, of course, but it did take him a couple of minutes to convince Ouma. After Saihara promised to fill him in later, Ouma begrudgingly agreed, leaving in the opposite direction with a childish pout.

Well, now that that had been taken care of…

Saihara headed towards his room, assuming that Kiibo was following him behind. Saihara had been handed the mp3 player for the day - seeing as how Kiibo couldn’t turn objects invisible and a floating mp3 would have definitely aroused some suspicions - so he didn’t need to check. Once he locked up his door as usual, he took his place on his chair, as he always would whenever he had these talks with Kiibo. It had become somewhat of a routine at this point.

On the other hand, while Kiibo did seem like he’d been thinking about some heavy stuff, he didn’t appear to be nearly as shaken up as the last time he remembered something, which was a relief. Having second thoughts if it was okay for him to ask so soon, Saihara stayed quiet for a little while, but luckily Kiibo had anticipated it ahead of time and spoke up by himself.

“I am sure you’re wondering whether I managed to remember anything” he started, Saihara nodding. He did suppose that was a good way to begin. “To answer the question… I am not quite sure. I cannot recall anything specific just yet, but… it all feels rather weird. I see certain objects, and a feeling of nostalgia overcomes me” Kiibo hesitated a little before resuming. “I realise this may sound strange, after all the reassurance we received, but… I feel a little uneasy.”

“I don’t think it’s all that strange. Anybody would be nervous in this kind of situation.”

“Do you think so?” Kiibo asked, shyly fidgeting. He seemed to be quite embarrassed about it.

“I know I would be, to say the least. So…” Saihara’s voice trailed off, as he realised he wasn’t sure what he was going to say next. He did have a specific idea in mind, but… He’d always done so without thinking, so wouldn’t asking beforehand now be a little weird? Not to mention awkward…

Kiibo was staring at him expectantly, though, waiting for him to say something. Maybe… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe he could just…

“D-do you want to hold hands, maybe?”

Seeing the surprised look on Kiibo’s face, Saihara’s mind immediately began racing to find excuse after excuse, “I j-just thought it might help y-you calm down a little!”, and he opened his mouth to apologise just as Kiibo slowly approached him with a flustered expression. Stunned, Saihara stayed completely motionless and silent as Kiibo slowly, hesitantly lifted one of his hands, holding it out with a faint blush dusting his cheeks.

Once Saihara’s hand found its way around Kiibo’s, he felt his heart rate pick up again. He’d done this before, in fact, they’d even hugged, but those were all spur of the moment scenarios. This time, he was doing it consciously, with plenty of time to make his mind up beforehand, and it was… different. It felt more intimate somehow, doing it this way.

Saihara quietly inhaled, then exhaled, repeating the process slowly and steadily, already feeling his face heating up. No, this really wasn’t so bad. As his chest rose with each breath, he squeezed Kiibo’s hand lightly, unable to focus on anything but how warm and soft it was.

Yeah, Saihara Shuuichi really was in big trouble.

\------------------------------------

“Saihara, are you listening?”

Snapping back to reality, Saihara blinked, taking in his surroundings. He was in class, sitting by his desk, his notebook opened in front of him, pen in hand. The pages were blank. The teacher was staring at him with a raised brow, his arms crossed, giving him the look of shame he would usually reserve for the troublemakers. Iruma loudly snickered in the back.

“O-oh, I’m sorry!” Saihara was quick to apologise, and the fact that he practically never got chewed out in class seemed to be of help as well; after one last stern glance, the teacher continued with the lecture. Embarrassed, Saihara hid his face behind his hat, rapidly copying the notes from the board before he lost the chance to.

It wasn’t like he spaced out on purpose! It just sort of happened... One moment, he was busy turning a page in his notebook, and before he knew it, his mind wandered back to what happened after the visit to Matsuda’s, a few days ago. Recalling the way Kiibo’s hand felt in his own, Saihara’s palm tingled lightly.

Once class had ended, of course, the first thing Momota did was call him out on it.

“Man, what’s up with you today? It’s like your head’s way up in the clouds!” he grinned, and Saihara smiled back nervously.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just tired…”

“Or maybe… Hmm, could it be?”

Uh oh. Saihara wasn’t liking that look.

“Don’t tell me you finally found yourself a girlfriend! Damn, good job!” Momota slapped him on the back, the entire class suddenly turning towards them. Saihara flinched as Kaede’s eyes sparkled.

“Saihara, you have a girlfriend!?”

“I do not…!” bright red in the face, Saihara shook his head, uncomfortable by all the attention.

“So… you have a boyfriend?”

“T-that’s not what I meant either… I’m not dating anybody!”

Disappointed at the lack of gossip-worthy news, the majority of the class got back to whatever they’d been doing before, only a couple questionable glances thrown Saihara’s way.

“Oh, you’re not?” Momota seemed taken aback; he must’ve been really confident in his theory. Saihara shook his head with a sigh. “But… you like someone, right?”

“Where’d you get that idea?”

“It’s written all over your face” Momota grinned, and Saihara instinctively lowered his hat. “Well, I guess I’m kinda glad. I would’ve been a bit jealous if you’d gone and gotten yourself a date before I could woo Harumaki.”

Saihara thought he could feel an intense gaze boring into him for a quick moment.

“Still, if you like someone, you can tell me, y’know? We’re buddies, after all” Momota continued, clearly intent on getting at least some kind of info out of Saihara. “Is it a girl? Is it a guy?”

Opening and closing his mouth, Saihara gave Momota a blank stare before he shook his head in disbelief. Yeah, he wasn’t getting out of this until he played along a little.

“…It’s a guy” he sighed.

“Someone I know? Someone from this school?”

…Did living in the school dormitory count?

“Y-yeah, it’s someone from here” Saihara replied after a bit of thinking. “I’m not saying anything else, though.”

“Aw, dude, don’t just leave me hanging like that!” Momota complained, but Saihara remained silent. He wasn’t just going to pick a random student, and he couldn’t have said it just straight out... for various reasons. Fortunately, though, before Momota could continue bombarding him with questions, Harukawa stood up in the back, grabbing both their attention. Her bag slung over her shoulder, she walked past Momota and Saihara without saying a word, sending an irritated glare towards the former. Ouma, popping up from behind the two, whistled.

“Damn, Harumaki, that’s cold.”

If looks could kill…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote the first half at 7am after an all nighter and had to proofread it like 3 times so if anything seems off with it thats the reason my guys,, dont write shit when youre half asleep it doesnt end well


	14. A favor

_The building is filled with the sound of children running and whisper-yelling at each other to notify everyone about the stranger. A group of girls peer at the man from behind a corner, murmuring among themselves. Visitors are a rare sight to see; they're all curious as to what the man wants._

_Standing a little to the side, the boy also can't help but wonder about it. The older kids have told him people sometimes come here because they can't have children of their own; maybe he's here to take one of them? The boy feels anxious._

_One of the girls roughly shoves him to the side so she can see everything better._

_"Move, Kiibo!"_

_"Stop calling me that!"_

_He doesn't shove her back, but sends her a mean glare anyway. She sticks her tongue out._

_"No fighting!" the voice of the children's caretaker makes them both turn towards the woman, embarrassed._

_"But she won't stop calling me that weird name!" the boy insists, although less worked up than before. The woman shakes her head with a sigh._

_"Rin, please don't bully him just because he's smaller than you."_

_"I'm not! It's a nickname!" the girl stomps her feet and the woman winces._

_"It doesn't even make any sense!" the boy pouts, his hands curled into tiny fists._

_"It does! It's the name of the main character in one of Kazu's old manga!" visibly upset by the accusation, the girl raises her volume. "You look just like him!"_

_"That's not-"_

_"Alright, that's enough" the woman chides them both, before turning to the stranger apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry. They're good kids, they just get like this sometimes..."_

_The man smiles, lifting his hands for her not to worry._

_"I am sure they are. They seem like good friends."_

_"We're not friends!" the boy and girl shout in unison, and the man chuckles. The woman shakes her head in disbelief._

_"Go back to playing, you two, alright? We'll talk about this later."_

_The girl and boy reluctantly nod, turning around and joining the rest of the children. As the woman shows the man to her office, the boy can faintly hear them exchanging a couple more words._

_"I imagine you'll need some time to decide, so we'll let you spend more time with the kids before we ask you to sign any papers."_

_"Yes, that would be ideal. I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough with these things to make a choice so fast."_

_"Ah, don't worry about it, Professor, I'm sure you'll find at least one that you'd be able to handle. Rin and Tetsuya aren't this rowdy either, when they're apart."_

_The boy's attention is pulled back to the girl as she throws a pillow at his head._

_\------------------------------------_

Saihara woke to the sound of his alarm; it took him a moment to recognise his surroundings. Another weirdly vivid dream. At least it didn't end with dying this time... It was more confusing than unsettling.

Sitting up in his bed, he rubbed his eyes as he looked around. Kiibo was reading in the corner, deeply immersed, not noticing Saihara just yet. Well, that was fine. It was too early to be discussing this kind of stuff. Stretching a little, Saihara got out of bed, and was about to go to the bathroom when his cellphone began ringing. Strange - who could be calling him at this hour?

"Good morning" Kiibo half-mumbled, his attention still focused on the book. Saihara made a mental note to check the title later.

"Morning" he stifled a yawn, reaching for his phone and checking the caller. An unknown number...?

After a short moment of hesitation, he picked up the call.

"Saihara Shuuichi speaking."

"Good. I got the right number."

The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Harukawa Maki" she said, as though she'd read his mind. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Uhm..." Saihara cleared his throat. "How did you get my number?"

"From Momota, but that's not important."

Saihara could practically see her making that one grumpy face she was so fond of wearing. "Are you free after school tomorrow?"

He didn't exactly have any plans, no.

"I am, but... What exactly do you need me for? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

Saihara heard her let out a long sigh.

"I've been contacted by a nursery to help out; apparently half of the staff has caught something and can't come in, and one of the teachers here recommended me to them."

Her voice was dripping with suppressed irritation; Saihara shuddered.

"They want me to bring some classmates and hold some activities."

"Why are you asking me?" Saihara hoped Harukawa wouldn't take that the wrong way. His talent just wasn't exactly great for this kind of situation.

"Because you're a pushover" was Harukawa's answer. Well... he couldn't really argue with that. "Either way, I only need about 5 people, and having to convince others would be a pain."

Yeah, that sounded like her alright.  Saihara had a feeling she wouldn't be too pleased if he tried to say no.

"Come to the gate during lunch break. We'll be allowed to miss all afternoon lessons" she said, before promptly hanging up. That was certainly... interesting. Saihara hadn't skipped class before - and this wasn't exactly skipping, mind you, seeing as how they had permission, but he couldn't help but feel a little nervous about it. He wasn’t sure if he would be good at dealing with children either, seeing as how he hadn’t been around them very much before. Not that he had a choice in the matter.

Sending one last glance in Kiibo’s direction, Saihara placed his phone back down, heading into the bathroom.

\------------------------------------

Harukawa’s stare drilling into the back of Saihara’s neck, he put his notebooks away, a little hastier than usual so as to keep her calm. She obviously wasn’t too excited about going either, but if they were gonna be late because of Saihara, she wasn’t going to react well… and that’s putting it lightly.

Power walking past Ouma - who stared after him curiously, balancing on his tiptoes -, Saihara immediately headed for the door, not wanting to gamble with Harukawa’s patience. He didn’t check to see if anyone else was leaving; he’d get to see them in a few minutes anyway.

Once he reached the gate, he waited with his back against the wall, hand clutching his phone in his pocket in case Harukawa decided to call him again. He let go of it once he saw her walking in his direction, closing the door to the building. Her long hair flowed behind her as she approached Saihara, her brows still furrowed, as though that was the only expression she was capable of making.

“So…” Saihara started, a little wary of her considering her current mood, “who else are we waiting for?”

Harukawa crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall, mirroring Saihara.

“Akamatsu, Momota, and Angie. They should be here soon” she said, staring intently at the door, as though she could summon them with sheer willpower. Pulling his hat a little lower, over his eyes, Saihara stared at the ground. Being alone with Harukawa was more than awkward.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait for too long; Harukawa clicked her tongue, muttering a quiet ‘finally’ under her breath when the door finally opened. On the other hand, it seemed like their little team was going to be a tad bigger than Harukawa had anticipated. After Momota and Kaede came Angie, skipping a few steps on the stairs as her arms bounced up and down. Then, after her… Gonta and Ouma, the latter using his hands as a megaphone to shout at Harukawa.

“Harumaki, I’m coming too! I wanna skip class with you guys!”

Harukawa looked like she wanted to snap Ouma in half. Saihara flinched when she subtly cracked her fingers; he knew she especially couldn’t stand Ouma, since he teased her so much, so this was… not good. He was already fearing for Ouma’s safety.

Kaede grabbed Ouma by the shoulders, steering him over to the side before Harukawa could do anything, smiling nervously.

“He really wanted to come with us, sorry.”

“It’s alright, Harumaki, we’ll watch him for you” Momota grinned, which made Harukawa’s expression soften a little before she went back to scowling.

“If he does _anything…_ There will be screaming. And it won’t be mine” Harukawa’s face darkened, and Saihara resisted the urge to take a couple of steps to the side, her murderous aura becoming much more intense when Ouma flashed her a bright smile.

“Don’t worry, Harumaki, I’ll be good!” he winked, before adding: “Probably.”

Inhaling deeply, Harukawa closed her eyes for a few seconds, composing her features before turning to Gonta.

“And you?”

“Ah!” Angie perked up, lifting her arm as though she was still in class. “Gonta was looking kind of lonely, so God told Angie to invite him!”

Gonta fidgeted as Angie placed her hands on her hips, looking very proud of herself. Harukawa didn’t exactly seem to mind; she shrugged her shoulders with a huff, rolling her eyes.

“Well, whatever. Just try not to scare the kids.”

Gonta nodded sheepishly.

“Gonta will try his best!”

Massaging her temples, Harukawa stepped away from the wall.

“Let’s just go before I strangle somebody.”

 ------------------------------------

Standing in the corner, Saihara flattened himself against the wall as he silently observed the ongoing chaos around him. Half of the children were running around with no one to control them whatsoever; Kaede was busy comforting one of the girls who had scraped her knee, Momota was being chased around by a group of little boys, shouting something about ‘catching the alien’, Gonta was getting bombarded with questions about various types of butterflies, a small crowd of starry-eyed girls listening very carefully. Angie, well… she was crouching on the side… praying?

Ouma was standing on a tower of chairs some kids have stacked together for him, having the time of his life probably as he shouted out various commands - most of which included pissing Harukawa off one way or another -, his new, miniature underlings carrying them out enthusiastically. The teachers have left things in Harukawa’s hands, which meant there was nobody around to witness all this - which, Saihara supposed, was a good thing, but it also meant that this wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon.

Harukawa probably could’ve tried harder to get the kids to stop, but she was occupied trying to keep her temper in check in front of them, probably wishing Ouma dead. Everything had started out so well, too! Kaede had played a few songs on the keyboard she’d been given, even teaching one of the girls a song - Flea Waltz, if Saihara heard the title right -, while Momota had been off on the other side, talking about constellations and the like. Saihara had been in the middle of helping Harukawa arrange the finger-painted pictures Angie had made with the kids when Ouma started his riot, cackling loudly as Harukawa chased him around.

Hopping off his newly made throne, Ouma sprinted towards Saihara, Harukawa following closely behind. Stumbling on his feet, Saihara dodged to the side before they could collide, grabbing onto a cabinet to steady himself as he tripped over a chair, Ouma sliding out of Harukawa’s reach only to crash into Saihara after all, sending him tumbling to the ground. The bucket of water that had been placed on top of the cabinet wobbled a little before swiftly falling on its side, spilling its contents on Saihara, currently lying on the floor.

Ouma, having rolled a few feet away, froze, staring at Saihara. He probably didn’t mean to do that. Already shivering from the - _ice cold -_ shower he’d just received, Saihara got to his feet, examining the damages. His shirt was fully drenched along with his hat, but at least his pants were somewhat dry. Harukawa sucked in a sharp breath, before turning around, her hands on her hips, her chest puffed out.

“Break time!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, causing all the rampaging children to stop all at once, their voices dying down one by one as they stared at her, wide-eyed. She didn’t look angry, though; rather than intimidation, she was exuding an aura of authority, which appeared to be working surprisingly well. The boys let go of Momota - who let out a relieved sigh -, and the kids who’d been running around now stood completely still.

Harukawa turned to Saihara, pointing towards the hallway behind her, over her shoulder.

“Go change before you catch a cold. There are some clean shirts in the cupboard in the bathroom.”

Saihara nodded, causing a few drops of water to fall from his hair. Oh, boy.

As he walked off - trying his best not to get his surroundings too wet, and failing spectacularly -, finding the door fast and opening it, Ouma got up and followed him. At Saihara’s questioning stare, Ouma beamed, closing the door behind them.

“I’ll help, okay? To make up for spilling it on you in the first place” he said, grabbing one of the towels. Saihara removed his hat, shaking wet hair out of his face.

“I didn’t think you’d apologise, to be honest.”

“It’s not really an apology, is it?” Ouma giggled as Saihara took the towel from his hand, rubbing his head dry. “But of course; I’d never hurt my beloved Saihara on purpose!”

Pausing for a moment, Saihara figured this moment was as good as any.

“Are you sure you should be calling me that? Your crush might get jealous, you know.”

Ouma seemed surprised, face going completely blank before he broke out in another smile, innocently tilting his head to the side.

“Hmm? But my crush is you, Saihara!”

Silence.

Saihara could practically feel the cogs turning in his brain as he processed the sentence, Ouma’s eyes boring into his own. He opened his mouth, but his voice had abandoned him, leaving him staring at Ouma with a look of silent shock. Smile widening, Ouma stuck his tongue out.

“Juuuust kidding!” he struck a pose, drawing out the syllable as much as possible. “I was lying, of course. I told you you’d have to figure it out by yourself if you wanted to know!”

Saihara blinked, a single droplet of water falling from his hair, dripping down the side of his cheek. Closing his mouth, he watched as Ouma dived for the door, opening it with an exaggerated wave.

“I’ll go check up on Harumaki!”

And off he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whelp, i have officially gone over my self proclaimed deadline, seeing as how its after midnight. im sorry my children, i have failed you,,,,,  
> i most likely wont be able to update tomorrow (or i guess later today, considering its already wednesday here), seeing as how i have an exam the day after, but the usual updates will resume on thursday, so please dont worry! i apologise about the inconvenience.  
> aaaanyway,, lookie lookie, here is the other ship i was talking about. well, half ship, considering its onesided. yes, it will come up more times in the future, and no, i will not stop tormenting ouma. all my faves must suffer.


	15. A slippery slope

Having finished changing, still shivering a little in the thin dress shirt he'd found, Saihara left the bathroom to get back to the others. In the short time he'd been away, Harukawa had taken complete control and was currently reading a book out loud, children sitting around her in a circle, listening to her talk. She seemed much calmer than before, her expression relatively relaxed. Ouma was busy cleaning up the puddle of water he'd caused to spill - forced by Harukawa, no doubt - while the other 4 were sitting in a pile of pillows in the other side of the room. Upon noticing Saihara, Momota waved him over.

Sending a concerned glance in Ouma's reaction, Saihara approached the group.

"You alright there? I can lend you my jacket, if you want" Momota offered, but Saihara shook his head.

"I'm fine, it's not that cold."

"Are you sure, Shuuichi? Angie wouldn't mind letting you borrow her coat either!"

"Gonta would be quite worried if you were catch a cold."

"You could wear my sweater until it warms you a little, if you want."

Unable to help a small smile, Saihara politely refused. He didn't want the others to feel cold either; besides, it was only a little chilly. Nothing that he couldn't handle. As he sat down, Kaede let out a quiet sigh.

"Honestly, I was hoping Ouma would behave himself for a change" she said, brushing a few strands of her slightly disheveled hair behind her ear.

"He's still a kid on the inside, isn't he? Probably feels right at home here" Momota shrugged. Saihara couldn't argue with that; he still felt a tad guilty about discussing this behind Ouma's back, though. Ouma was just trying to have fun.

"Hey, Shuuichi!"

Saihara flinched when Angie called his name.

"Hold out your arm" Angie said, picking up one of the felt tip pens lying around, removing the cap.

"Why?" a little wary, Saihara hesitated. Angie giggled.

"Angie thinks you look kinda sad, so she'll draw you something cute to cheer you up!" she twirled the pen in her hand, waiting for Saihara to do as she suggested. After a short moment of contemplating the chances of her pulling out an injection needle to get some blood for her sacrifice, Saihara rolled up his sleeve, letting Angie hold his hand by the wrist. Sticking her tongue out a little, she began doodling what looked like a tiny cat, making it look as adorable as possible.

"Well? It's cute, right?" she beamed once she was finished, and Saihara slowly nodded.

"Yeah, actually... Thank you" he awkwardly placed his hand back in his lap, staring at the cute little drawing. Angie seemed glad.

Sheepishly raising his own hand, Gonta spoke up.

"Could Gonta get a drawing as well?"

"Why, of course!" Angie happily took his hand, lifting the pen again. As she doodled a pretty butterfly, filling the wings with detailed patterns, Gonta followed the pen with his eyes, practically glowing.

That was also kind of cute.

Kaede was next to request something from Angie, the shorter girl drawing a music sheet and a piano on the back of her hand, surrounded by stray music notes. Seeing as how everyone else had gotten their turn, Momota couldn't help but join in. Angie drew him as a purple skinned alien. Momota actually got excited about it.

At some point Ouma joined the improvised story time, taking a seat next to Harukawa as he began telling his own version of the book she'd been reading. She hit him over the head with it.

\------------------------------------

After they arrived back at Hope's Peak - all of them still alive and well, although the latter was a bit questionable in Saihara's case -, the first thing Saihara did was run to his room, greeting whoever he came across as fast as possible. Once he got past the door, he sighed in relief; his room was still nice and warm. Toujou hadn't aired it out yet. Grabbing a clean pair of pants, he turned to Kiibo, who was staring at him with eyes full of worry.

"Hi" he cleared his throat. "Sorry if I startled you."

"Never mind that" Kiibo shook his head. "Are you alright? You seem a little... flushed."

No surprise, with the current weather. The afternoon was bearable - late spring was close enough to summer after all -, but the evening breeze combined with the lowered temperature took a bit of a toll on him.

Well, he should be fine after a hot shower.

"It's a long story" Saihara smiled apologetically. "I'd like to shower first, if that's alright with you."

"Oh, of course" Kiibo nodded understandingly. "Please take as long as you need."

Hopefully hot water is good for a cold.

Stripping hastily, Saihara hung his - still partially wet - clothes up to dry, before turning up the water temperature and sticking his head underneath it. The heat was definitely an improvement; he didn't even move at first, instead closing his eyes, enjoying the water. Nothing like a hot shower after a day's hard work - a hot bath would have been a tad more preferable, but he didn't have the energy to care.

A knock sounded on the door. Saihara paused in the middle of shampooing his hair, glancing in Kiibo's presumed direction.

"Is something wrong?"

Kiibo replied after a few seconds of silence, voice slightly muffled.

"No, it's nothing. Please do not mind me."

Saihara raised a brow, but left it at that.

He was starting to feel a little lightheaded.

He should go to bed early, unless he wanted to pass out while standing up.

\------------------------------------

Cold. Cold. Cold.

Opening his eyes, Saihara felt a chill run down his spine. The morning sun illuminating his room, he blinked a couple of times before he fully registered the time.

Ah, that's right. No school today.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position with some difficulty, the blanket slipped off his torso, and he shivered. His sleepwear was sticking to him, drenched in sweat. Gross. He should take a shower.

He managed to free the rest of his body from under the blanket, dangling his feet from the bed. Despite his dizziness, he tried to stand, his legs immediately giving in, causing him to fall forward. Instead of landing face-first on the floor like he was expecting, though, he felt his body collide with something soft, a pair of arms holding him up, bright blue eyes meeting his own.

"A-are you alright, Saihara?"

Their faces were close, but the voice sounded faint. Saihara blinked, turning the question over in his brain multiple times, the world spinning around him. He felt a hand touch his forehead, the sudden warmth very welcoming.

"You seem to have a rather high fever... Please lie back down."

Kiibo must be worried. That's cute. _Kiibo is cute._

Grabbing his hand before Kiibo could pull it back, Saihara pressed his cheek into his palm, a soft sigh escaping his lips at the warm sensation. Something in the back of his mind was telling him it should've felt cold at his current temperature, but he was too dazed to care. Spirits don't need to make sense. He had to stop thinking now.

Leaning into Kiibo with his entire body, he wrapped his arms around the boy's torso, head buried in the crook of his neck. Warm. He clung onto him like a newborn child would to their mother, a needy whine in the back of his throat when the other tried to pull away.

"Ah, we should n-not let your temperature get too high, so-"

Saihara hummed without a care in the world, only tightening his grip. It wasn't too strong; one of his arms was already slipping, but as Kiibo squirmed to get him to let go, he lost his balance, causing both of them to fall back onto the bed.

It didn't hurt - Kiibo was light. Very light. Saihara didn't let go.

Pouting, but also red in the face, Kiibo sighed.

"You are supposed to cool your body during a fever, you know."

"Mhm, later. I'm cold" Saihara's voice was barely above a whisper, staring off into space with half-lidded eyes. Alarms were ringing in his head; this is bad, you need to stop.

Why, though? He couldn't recall the reason.

Well, if he couldn't remember, it must not have been that important in the first place.

He felt Kiibo stir.

"Just a few more minutes" he mumbled, turning his head to the side sleepily.

"But..."

"Am I being a bother...?"

"N-no, that's not it..."

"Hmm? Then why?"

Kiibo's blush deepened as he spoke in a shy, low voice, gaze averted in embarrassment.

"Because you have a fever. A-also... it is inappropriate."

"Is it?"

"W-well, I mean..." his voice trailed off, the next bit so quiet Saihara could barely make it out. "We are not... in that kind of relationship, so..."

"Do you not like me?" Saihara drawled, causing Kiibo to freeze. Unsure of how to respond to that, he opened and closed his mouth several times, before swallowing nervously. Saihara waited a little before rephrasing the question. "Do you like me, Kiibo?"

Closing his eyes tightly, Kiibo seemed to be gathering his courage; Saihara felt around blindly with a hand before finding Kiibo's own, curling his fingers around his. Taking that as encouragement, Kiibo reluctantly opened his eyes again, answering in a shaky voice.

"I like you."

Saihara felt strangely giddy all of a sudden.

"I like you too" he blurted out, squeezing Kiibo's hand with what little grip he had. Kiibo couldn't seem to be able to look at him directly, timidly squeezing back.

Struggling to lift his head, Saihara said the first thing he could think of.

"You have really pretty eyes."

Kiibo couldn't help a quick glance at that, only for Saihara to finally raise his head, clumsily touching their lips together before flopping back down right away. Looking like he might explode from embarrassment, Kiibo made a noise in the back of his throat, covering his face with his free hand. That was also adorable. Saihara felt his heart flutter. He wanted to kiss him again, but he couldn't even move a finger anymore. His eyes sleepily closing on their own, he could feel himself drifting off, having stopped registering any outside noise as his chest steadily rose and fell.

It seemed like him passing out had become a regular thing at this point.

\------------------------------------

When he regained consciousness, Saihara found himself lying in the exact same spot he'd fainted in. There was something cold and wet on his forehead. He reached up to touch it with a hand; a folded up hand towel, drenched in cold water. The blanket was up to his chin, and it was suffocatingly hot underneath. As he pulled the covers down to get some air, he struggled to recall the day's events. It was late - that much he could tell. Had he spent the entire day in bed?

Turning his head, he spotted a folded up note placed on top of his desk, next to a bowl of sliced fruit. Trying his best to not roll onto the floor by accident, he reached for the paper.

_Please eat as much of this as you can, after you wake up._

_-Toujou Kirumi_

His stomach grumbling, Saihara didn't have many objections. Carefully placing the plate in his lap, he slowly began eating, wondering how he could've gotten himself so sick.

Oh, that's right. He spent the latter half of yesterday as a human ice cube, after Ouma dumped that water on him. Speaking of which... He still hadn't gotten to ask him about the whole... crush thing. He did say he was joking, but Saihara just couldn't shake the feeling that Ouma was hiding behind his prankster persona as a defense mechanism this time around.

Well, either way, he had someone else he liked, so it'd have been better for them both to have this cleared up.

Saihara suddenly froze, the piece of apple he just picked up dropping from his hand.

Oh.

...

This morning... was that... a dream? Did that... actually happen? Did... Did he really do something like that?

Burying his red face in his hands, he let out a silent scream just as the door to his room opened. Peering out from behind his fingers, he spotted a floating bottle of water before Kiibo appeared out of nowhere. Resisting the urge to leap out of bed and hide underneath it for the rest of his life, he couldn't do anything but stare silently. Great job, Shuuichi.

After a minute of the improvised staring contest, both participants extremely flustered for one reason or another, Saihara pried his hands away from his face, instead gripping the blanket hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. His first instinct would be to apologise, but... wouldn't Kiibo just take that the wrong way? What could he even say in a situation like this?

Shyly approaching him, Kiibo handed Saihara the water, speaking up hesitantly.

"I thought you might be thirsty..."

Saihara took the bottle, his hand twitching a little upon making contact with Kiibo's. Clearing his throat, he averted his gaze, examining the currently half-empty plate.

"Thanks."

Once he took a small sip, he bit his lip, unsure of how to handle this.

"So... about this morning..."

A faint blush visible on Kiibo's cheeks, he spoke before Saihara could continue.

"Uhm... Those things that you said..." he lifted his hands to fidget with them, gaze quickly shifting from Saihara to the floor, then back again. "Were they true?"

Saihara swallowed, although that didn't get rid of the lump in his throat. Afraid that he might stutter, he timidly nodded his head, reaching up to hide his face with his hat but only grasping at air. He drew back his hand, embarrassed. Recognizing the nervous habit, Kiibo seemed to think something over in his head before slowly extending a hand.

"Do you want to hold hands?"

His voice was quiet enough not to crack, but Saihara could see he was having trouble staying calm. He silently scolded himself. This wouldn't work if both of them were to freak out about it - so he lifted a hand, placing it in Kiibo's own. Reciting 'it's okay' in his head like a mantra, he took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come.

"Can I... k-kiss you?"

Kiibo nodded bashfully, eyes fluttering closed as Saihara gently cupped his face between his trembling hands, planting a soft kiss on the other boy’s lips. Butterflies in his stomach, Saihara closed his eyes, afraid that if he were to look his heart would stop beating.

Even if he’d used up his first kiss earlier, he certainly didn’t mind repeating it over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its a beautiful day outside and my children are extremely gay  
> you didnt think the pining would go on forever,, did you


	16. Half-truths

_Standing on his tiptoes, arms outstretched, as high up as his tiny stature allows them to, he swats at the air multiple times, failing to grasp the cord hanging from the cabinet. So close, yet so far. One of his fingers manages to just barely touch it when he jumps, and he almost tips the entire cabinet over in the process. Puffing his cheeks in determination, he looks around to see if there’s anything he could use as a stepping stool. Normally he’d have given up by now, but he’s been growing more and more curious about the device his father’s been working on. Surely, a little peak wouldn’t hurt…_

_Dragging a folding chair over, he climbs on top of it, a little unsteady on his feet, but fine for the most part. Alright, this should work. Reaching out with an arm again, he manages to grab onto the cord, pulling whatever it’s connected to towards him. Excited, he continues carefully dragging the object off the cabinet, holding out his hand for a strange, rectangular object to fall into it. He examines it closer; he thinks he’s seen some of the older kids carrying similar ones around. It’s for listening to music, isn’t it? He glances at the cord that came with it, which turns out to be a pair of earbuds. That’s weird. Why would his father be making something like this when he can just buy it at a store?_

_Perplexed, he continues staring, examining them both from various angles. Is there something about these that makes them special…? He couldn’t tell - he’s never paid much attention to these kinds of things before. Maybe he should just put them back for now…_

_As he stands on his tiptoes, shoving both the music player and earbuds back on top of the cabinet, the chair wobbles, and he just manages to place the devices down before he loses his balance, the chair collapsing underneath him. It makes quite a bit of noise, and he stares nervously at the door in silence for a little while. Getting scolded with his birthday around the corner would probably not turn out very well._

_Then again, his father’s always been very forgiving and patient. He might just overlook this._

_Getting to his feet, the boy drags the chair to where he’d picked it up from._

\------------------------------------

Having started to get used to the experience, Saihara wasn't quite as disoriented as usual when he woke up. Then again, this dream hadn't been very long; maybe that also had something to do with it. It wasn't like he'd figured out the reason behind them, anyway, so anything was possible at this point.

He rubbed his eyes, checking the time. His alarm hasn't gone off yet, but since he'd slept so much while he was sick, he didn't think he'd be able to fall asleep again if he tried. Instead, he scanned the room to see if Kiibo was around, spotting him a few feet away, eyes closed, listening to music. It was almost like he was sleeping mid-air; Saihara couldn't help but stare, wondering if that's how his sleeping face would've looked. Should he let him know that he's awake...? Or should he just leave him be? Would staring in a situation like this be considered impolite?

He didn't end up having to decide, though, as Kiibo opened his eyes, seemingly a little startled by Saihara's unannounced awakening. Apologising would've just made Saihara look shady, though. It's not like he was watching him sleep...

"Good morning" Kiibo broke the silence, removing the earbuds. "It's a little earlier than usual; would you not prefer to get some more rest?"

"Ah, I'm fine" Saihara shook his head. "I got plenty of rest while I was... you know."

Remembering the event caused quite a bit of embarrassment on both sides, and Saihara quickly changed the topic.

"By the way, how's your memory?"

He was going to ask either way, since he still had yet to write that report for Matsuda - and he would've preferred not to get dismembered in his sleep for not keeping his word -, so he figured now would be as good a time as any. He still had over half an hour before he had to get out of bed, anyway.

Kiibo seemed to think the question over for a while, fiddling with the cord in his hand with an unreadable expression.

"Better, I suppose" he finally responded, breaking eye contact. "I remember... bits and pieces, so there are still some things that are rather confusing... but I guess that cannot be helped."

"If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine" Saihara hurriedly reassured him, but Kiibo shook his head.

"No, it's not like that" he paused before quickly glancing back at him. "I'm just not quite sure where to start. Also... I would not want to make you uncomfortable, talking too much about these sorts of things."

He looked a little sad.

"You don't have to worry about that" Saihara gave him an encouraging smile. "I want to help you figure these things out, so I'd like you to rely on me at least a little, alright?"

Kiibo responded with a small nod, before hesitantly floating closer.

"I am not sure if this would be a good point to begin with, but... I remember my name, now. My full name, that is."

Saihara raised a brow, waiting for him to continue.

"My name is Iidabashi Tetsuya. I used to be a student here, like the rest of you... although that may have already been obvious. Kiibo is... a nickname of mine."

He seemed a little shy admitting it. Saihara was a little nervous himself; he might as well have been calling Kiibo by his first name all this time. Which, well, wasn't exactly something he was used to doing. Missing the comfort of being able to hide behind his hat as well, he resisted the urge to cover his face with a hand as he spoke.

"W-would it still be alright for me to call you that? Kiibo..." he was glad his bedhead covered his flushed face a little. "I mean, I've been using it all this time, so it would be a little strange to change that now."

Plus, couples often gave each other pet names, didn't they? The thought itself made Saihara flustered enough that he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, though. That is what they were... right? A couple... They hadn't exactly discussed that part yet, but it felt right.

Saihara was sure if Shirogane knew, she'd be all over the two, rambling about how the scenario was straight out of one of her light novels.

Kiibo was a bit surprised, but he didn't seem to mind - in fact, Saihara could've sworn he saw something akin to relief flash in his eyes.

"That would be preferable, yes" fidgeting, he continued in a rather awkward manner. Not that Saihara minded - he probably wouldn't have done much better. "Uhm, this may sound a little weird, but... I like how you say my name."

Saihara's blush only deepened.

"I l-like your voice" Kiibo blurted out, most likely by accident as he buried his face in his hands right after. Saihara followed suit, cursing his lack of experience.

It was hard, staying calm in these cases, when it was his first time going through them. How was he even supposed to react to something like that? Was he supposed to thank him…? Was he supposed to respond with another compliment…? _How does romance work?_

“A-anyway” Kiibo slowly removed his hands, clearing his throat. “Aside from that, I can recall most of my early childhood - well, however much I would be able to remember if I haven’t lost them in the first place, I think. The rest is still rather hazy, but I can piece together enough smaller bits for… more major details, I suppose.”

That was good; it seemed the experiment might be taking effects faster than Saihara had anticipated. Another week or two, and they might have enough information to start properly theorizing.

“So, for example… You actually _remember_ attending this school?”

“Yes.” Kiibo nodded, quickly adding: “I don’t recall what my talent was, though…”

“Hmm…” Saihara tapped his chin with a finger, brows furrowing thoughtfully. “Anything else that might be important?”

Tilting his head to the side, it took Kiibo a couple more seconds to answer.

“I’m not sure if it _is_ important, but…” he held up the mp3 player, his expression shifting to an almost melancholic one. Saihara wasn’t sure what to expect; he didn’t want to interrupt, though. “I know why I have been so drawn to this now. It was a gift for my birthday, from my father.”

“Your father?” Saihara repeated. Come to think of it, he knew pretty much nothing about Kiibo’s family; flashing back to the last two dreams he’d had, he wondered… Should he mention something about them?

“Well, we were not related by blood… But he raised me as he would have his own child” wearing a sad smile, Kiibo stared at the device as though it was the most precious object in the entire world. To him, it probably was. “He passed away a year before I came to the academy, so… even if my attachment to an inanimate object seems a little silly, I’m not sure if I would be able to help it.”

At first, Saihara wasn’t sure how to respond. That was a little heavy for Kiibo to mention so casually; he must’ve been thinking about it for quite a while to be able to talk about it so easily. He had to have forgotten about it, after all. Biting his lip, Saihara decided to just rely on his intuition.

“I don’t think it’s silly at all. A lot of people have mementos that they hold on to, don’t they?” he said, trying his best to sound reassuring. “If it’s important to you, that’s all that matters.”

Kiibo’s gaze shifted to meet his, and Saihara gave him a small smile.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to cherish memories like that, so you don’t have to feel bad about it.”

After a bit of thinking, Kiibo nodded his head.

“I suppose that’s true…” he looked like he wanted to say more, but Saihara wasn’t sure if he should ask. Instead, he watched as Kiibo squirmed, fidgeting intensifying, until he shook his head rather suddenly, startling Saihara a little. “I apologise, but…” he lifted a hand, pointing to Saihara’s own. “Could I…?”

Saihara wordlessly offered his hand for Kiibo to take it, and he did so, relieved. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, although the distant look in his eyes never left. Saihara squeezed his hand lightly.

“It’s okay.”

Carefully returning the gesture, Kiibo closed his eyes.

“Thank you.”

\------------------------------------

Staring at the teacher with a blank expression, Saihara clicked his pen repeatedly, eyes unfocused. Still feeling a bit restless after the morning, he was finding it especially hard to concentrate, lips pursed in a thin line. He was wondering if he should’ve brought up the dreams after all - it would probably be the right thing to do, considering they had to do with Kiibo, but Saihara was afraid he’d be upset if Saihara saw too much. It _was_ kind of an invasion of his privacy - not that he could’ve helped it, he couldn’t control the dreams after all, but he couldn’t help but feel worried about it.

Letting out a deep sigh, he lowered his head onto the desk.

“Is something wrong, Saihara?” the teacher narrowed her eyes at him, and Saihara, remembering where he was currently sitting, immediately shot back up.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t sleep much yesterday.”

That was a lie, but it was better than nothing. After giving him a warning look, the teacher resumed her lecture, and Saihara went back to messing around with his pen. He could feel eyes on his back, but he stubbornly stared at his incomplete notes. His lack of communicational skills was starting to get rather troublesome.

The sound of a chair being pulled out in the back, Saihara turned his head to see Ouma standing up in his seat, raising his arm.

“I need to use the bathroom” he announced, skipping off without waiting for permission, leaving the door to the classroom open. Having experienced this almost every day by now, the teacher promptly ignored him - until Saihara stood up as well.

“Uhm, I also need to go, s-so…”

The teacher sighed, massaging her temples.

“Go ahead.”

Saihara actually closed the door behind him.

Upon looking around in the hallway, he spotted Ouma with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall, looking right at him. He’d obviously ditched the class on purpose - other students have found him like this outside enough times to know that by now -, and since Saihara wanted to talk to him in private, this was as good a chance, as any. He was fated to be unable to pay attention in class for the rest of his life, apparently, anyway.

“Ouma, could we talk?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Ouma pushed himself away from the wall, balancing himself on the heels of his shoes. He’d put on one of his innocent smiles, but something about his body language was just slightly… off.

“Decided to confess your undying love to me, but couldn’t wait until the end of class?” he giggled. “My, my, it seems I’ve corrupted you.”

Before Saihara could say anything, he threw up one of his hands, flashing a peace sign.

“That was just a joke, by the way! You looked so serious; I thought I’d lighten the mood.”

Unsure of how to begin, Saihara stared at Ouma’s mischievous grin, adjusting his hat a little. Being straightforward would probably be the best way to deal with someone like Ouma, right…? If Saihara tried a more cautious approach, Ouma might just deflect it with another joke, or straight up steer the conversation away, so… maybe just getting it over with might be the best way.

“S-so” Saihara almost cringed at how nervous he sounded, “about… what you said when we were helping out Harukawa… Uhm-“

“Aww, have you been thinking about that all this time?” Ouma cut him off, ignoring Saihara’s failed attempts at explaining himself. “I already told you I wasn’t being serious, didn’t I?”

“But-“

“Shush!” Ouma crossed his arms, pouting. “You’re really bad with jokes, aren’t you, Saihara?”

He turned around with a huff, about to head back into the classroom, when Saihara grabbed him by the sleeve, holding him back.

“Ouma, listen to me.”

Glancing back at him over his shoulder, Ouma ripped his hand away, sticking his tongue out before he opened the door to the classroom again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okAY SO,,, since school appears to be killing me and ive gone over my deadline yet again, im thinking of downgrading the update time to once per 2 days so i can actually get some sleep every once in a while, but! i dont rlly know if you guys would be fine with that so let me know in the comments please  
> (if enough people tell me that theyd prefer an update every day, ill stick to that, dont worry)


	17. Friendship is breaking rules together

“What’s up with him?” Momota asked, mouth full of food, pointing at something in the back of the class. Saihara turned his head to see Ouma with his feet on his desk, shoveling food into his mouth, looking rather disgruntled. When Kaede tried to ask him if there was something wrong, he threw one of the paper airplanes he’d made during class at her, Iruma immediately getting on his case for it, swearing colorfully. Saihara was pretty sure he hadn’t heard half those insults before.

“Maybe he finally got scolded for skipping class all the time” Amami shrugged, placing his empty lunchbox to the side, having already finished eating. “I told him it’d happen sooner or later.”

“Hey, Ouma!” Momota yelled across the room, causing both Saihara and Amami to wince. “Why the long face?”

Picking up his pen, Ouma scribbled something into his notebook, before holding it up for Momota to see with a wide smile. It was a doodle of Momota, wearing a shirt with ‘I’m sorry I was born stupid” written on it. Momota flipped him off.

Taking another bite, Saihara tried his best to make himself look as small as possible. That was probably his fault. But then again, getting through to Ouma wasn’t exactly an easy task to accomplish.

“Saihara? You okay there?”

“Y-yeah” Saihara nodded, avoiding Momota’s prying look.

Momota leaned back in his chair, curious.

“What, had a fight with your boyfriend?”

Saihara choked on a piece of rice.

“W-what?” he managed to blurt out after a small coughing fit, Amami rubbing his back without any comments on his part.

“Your crush, whatever” Momota shrugged, unfazed by Saihara’s dramatic reaction. “Did you have a fight? Or… did you get rejected?”

“N-no, I’m fine” Saihara cleared his throat, resuming eating. _He_ was the one who did the rejecting. Or was going to, anyway. Ouma probably already had a feeling.

Propping his chin up on a hand, Amami sent him a sideways glance, Saihara tensing up a little. Momota, he wasn’t worried about at all - he was a nice guy and all, but he could be a little… _oblivious_ , at times. Amami, on the other hand, was sharp, almost frighteningly so. He was able to pick up on the smallest changes in someone’s mood - possibly because he was an older sibling, used to taking care of people -, so if he were to get involved, things might get a little complicated.

Then again… Amami wasn’t very invasive, when it all came down to it.

“You know” Amami spoke with audible worry in his voice, Saihara shrinking himself as much as possible, “if there’s something on your mind that you’d want to talk about, you can tell us. I think I’m pretty good at giving advice.”

“Same here” Momota nodded along, grinning. “We’re bros, you know? If you need a shoulder to cry on because you got dumped, I’m here.”

“I d-didn’t get dumped!”

Amami gave him a reassuring pat on the back, and Saihara buried his face in his hands.

\------------------------------------

Once the bell signaling the end of classes for the day rang, Saihara let out a sigh of relief. He could feel Amami repeatedly looking his way, eyes boring into the back of his neck - he tried his best to ignore it, knowing that Amami wasn’t the type to persist if Saihara didn’t want him to, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. But it wasn’t like he could just tell him - regardless of whether or not he wanted to personally, it wouldn’t have been fair to Ouma to tell anyone else. He would’ve probably also added uncertainty to that, but… Ouma’s reaction had given it away pretty well.

Still, it didn’t seem like he was willing to talk, so maybe it was better for Saihara to leave him be for now. He did have other - possibly more pressing - issues.

Getting up from his seat and gathering up his belongings, he hastily waved by to the others, leaving the classroom. Heading towards the faculty office, he quickened his strides, ignoring the looks thrown his way. Would asking for an old student’s files be even allowed? Maybe not… That does seem like it should be private information, after all.

Knocking on the door, he wondered if it’d make him look suspicious. He could just say he needed it for some kind of research - besides, the fact that his talent was what it was would probably also make things easier -, but he couldn’t be sure they’d believe him.

Well, trying couldn’t hurt at the very least - was what he’d been thinking until he was almost immediately shooed away, his request refused. Yeah, that’s what he’d suspected would happen. He couldn’t really blame the teachers - they were bound by school regulations and whatnot. Besides, they probably didn’t think it was that important, which was fair enough.

Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Saihara sighed. There goes that option out the window. Maybe he could just…

“Is everything alright?”

Saihara raised his head to find Amami with his hands in his pockets, head slightly tilted to the side as he waited for Saihara’s response. Momota wasn’t far behind, letting Amami handle the situation for a change, despite very much looking like he had a couple of things to say as well.

“You seem a little down” Amami continued. “If it’s something that we can help you with, feel free to share.”

What was he even supposed to say, though? _‘Oh, I’m just trying to obtain some documents that have nothing to do with me for some shady reason that I can’t tell you guys about, haha.’_ Yeah, because that would go really well, wouldn’t it?

“…I don’t think you guys would be able to help, sorry” Saihara shook his head, Amami raising his brows.

“So there _is_ something!” Momota shouted from the back before Amami gave him a scolding look.

“It’s fine, it’s really nothing serious” Saihara insisted.

“Saihara, dude!” lowering his volume by a little, Momota grabbed him by the shoulders, Amami flailing to stop him, without much success. “Stop being such a sissy, and talk to us!”

“I’m n-not being a sissy!”

“Let’s all calm down and think this through for a second…!”

“You three!” a teacher’s voice interrupted, causing Momota to stop shaking Saihara for a moment. “Stop yelling in the hallway!”

Amami managed to pry Momota’s hands off of Saihara, apologising to the teacher for all three of them, the other two awkwardly standing in place. After a stern lecture, the teacher walked off, and Amami breathed a sigh of relief.

“Geez, you can’t just do something like that. Please try to control your temper” he said to Momota, arms crossed, putting on his scolding big brother face. If it had been anyone else, Momota would’ve just retorted straight away, but despite how nice and polite he always acted, Amami could be kind of intimidating sometimes. In the parental way. “But either way…” he sighed. “You did have a point, I suppose. Saihara, I don’t know what’s up with you, but you don’t have to be scared to talk. If that’s what this is about, that is.”

“It’s not… like that” Saihara averted his eyes, unable to help feeling a little ashamed.

“Is it some detective business?” Momota asked, a bit tense under Amami’s suspicious gaze. At least he wasn’t going to grab Saihara again anytime soon.

“…I guess” Saihara nodded hesitantly. Yeah, that was probably the best way to describe it. Momota’s eyes seemed to sparkle at that, though, and Saihara could feel regret crawling up his spine.

“Dude, that sounds cool! Are you investigating something?”

“I… kind of, yeah.”

“Are you trying to arrest somebody? Is that it? Man, that’d be awesome!”

“W-where did you get _that_ idea?” Saihara stared at him with wide eyes, mildly horrified. “I was just looking into a student that used to go here, that’s all. I can’t just ask for someone’s private files, though…”

Amami placed a hand on his chin, silently observing Saihara for a while, his other hand resting on Momota’s shoulder to stop him from acting on impulse again. Covering his face as much as possible with his hat, Saihara tried his best to escape his prying gaze.

“Is it something important?” Amami asked, still looking straight at him. Saihara nodded, and Amami went quiet again. Humming under his breath, his brows burrowed slightly, expression suggesting that he was deep in thoughts. “Say…” Saihara flinched a little when he spoke up again. “I know where they keep the spare keys, so…”

Unsure if Amami was hinting at what he thought he was, Saihara lifted his head a little, shocked. Amami, of all people, surely wouldn’t suggest something like that… right?

Amami smiled.

\------------------------------------

“Please remind me why we’re doing this again…” Saihara whispered, nervously following closely behind Amami. It was dark enough for them not to see anything, had it not been for the flashlight Amami was shining around, so Saihara tried not to fall behind too much. He didn’t wanna trip over anything by accident. In the far back, Momota didn’t seem to care much, hands shoved in his pockets as he walked after them in a laid-back manner.

“Shh, it’ll be fine” Amami shushed him, peering over the corner. Saihara was pretty sure they were breaking multiple rules right now and wouldn’t get off easily if they were caught, so all he could do was trust Amami’s stealth skills for now. “There’s nobody here at this time of the day. Or night, rather. We won’t get caught.”

“You say that, but I’m pretty sure I just heard a noise from over there” Momota chimed in, pointing ahead. Amami turned his head with a look of betrayal.

“Whose side are you on?”

Momota shrugged, but before he could reply, Saihara heard it as well. The sound of a chair being kicked over. All three of them froze, exchanging looks ranging from curious to confused and terrified. Saihara turned around, but Amami grabbed onto the collar of his shirt before he could escape.

“Let’s not give up so easily. It could just be another student” he pointed out, his iron grip on Saihara contrasting with his relaxed tone of voice. Saihara swallowed audibly.

“I could check it out” Momota offered, but Amami waved his hand in front of him, signing for him to wait. Turning the flashlight off, he stuck his head around the corner. Left in pitch darkness, Saihara was breaking out in cold sweat. Was this really alright? _Of course it wasn’t, they were going to be found and probably expelled and-_

Momota took a step and Amami put an arm out in front of him.

“Not yet.”

Then, out of nowhere, the sound of a door being slid open echoed throughout the hallway. Light footsteps sounded, the owner of them humming under their breath as they skipped merrily on their way, slowly getting closer. This was really bad. Whoever the person was didn’t seem to be carrying a light, so they’d probably be able to see the three of them without trouble; they had to either hide or run. Amami seemed to think so as well, as he grabbed Saihara by the wrist, pulling him in the opposite direction, towards the janitor’s closet. Moving as quietly as possible, Amami opened it, ushering both him and Momota inside before climbing in himself as well, closing the closet behind him.

It was extremely cramped inside, what with all the cleaning equipment taking up the majority of the space; what Saihara was hoping was a broom was digging into his side, and Amami’s elbow was about an inch from his neck. None of them dared to move, though, waiting for the person to pass them by. As they closed in, Saihara held his breath - the person didn’t stop, though, walking past the closet without a problem. After Saihara was completely sure they were out of earshot, he finally exhaled, startling Amami and causing him to almost decapitate him with his arm. Struggling a little with the door, it took Amami a few seconds to get it open again, all three of them tumbling outside at the same time, tripping over each other.

Okay, that was pretty loud.

Coughing, Saihara felt Amami grab onto him again, and tried his best to keep his balance as Amami dragged him off, Momota rushing after them. Amami turning the flashlight back on, they ran past quite a few classrooms, coming to a stop in front of the faculty room. Fishing a key out of his pocket, Amami unlocked the door, quickly shoving both of them inside. They all froze for a few seconds, listening - but it seemed nobody was coming after them. Good. Saihara breathed a sigh of relief as Amami took out a USB stick, walking up to one of the computers and turning it on. Giving Saihara a thumbs up, he smiled, the corner of his mouth quivering just enough for Saihara to notice.

“See? I told you we’d be fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyy there i am. from now on, ill probably be updating once every 2 days, just so everyone is aware. i *might* take a little longer sometimes (as much as i dont want to, i have a lot of shit to do right now), but yknow  
> on another note i was gonna title this chapter 'mission impossible' but realised how fucking dumb that sounded so,, never mind


	18. Comfort zone

Staring at the ceiling, lying in bed, Saihara glanced over at the tablet Amami had lent him to check the files they'd... stolen. He hadn't even looked at them yet, the guilt still too fresh enough in his mind to bring himself to do so. He'd confessed it to Kiibo as soon as he got back - got scolded pretty badly, and he agreed with every single word -, which made him feel a little better, but he still felt like he just became a criminal. He probably did, actually. Oh, the irony.

"You really should sleep now" Kiibo said, worried.

"...I can't" Saihara sighed, rolling onto his side. His stomach was kind of starting to hurt; the wonders of being an anxious person...

Staring at him in silence for a little, Kiibo moved a bit closer, Saihara burying his face in his pillow in the meantime.

"I... still stand by what I said earlier" he started, and Saihara's mouth twitched at that. He almost laughed. "But that does not mean you should neglect your health because of it. Please."

Saihara squirmed, lifting his head a little to speak without half of it coming out as unintelligible, muffled noises.

"I'm not doing it on purpose; this just happens sometimes..."

Kiibo looked even more concerned.

"Is there anything I could do to help...?"

Saihara opened his mouth before closing it again, the suggestion he'd been about to say stuck in his throat. That wasn't just something people asked for so casually, was it...? Would... it be okay?

"...It's okay. I know you're probably still mad."

"I'm not mad" Kiibo shook his head, determined to make Saihara feel better. "I was just upset that you would go so far for such a small thing, I guess."

Saihara raised a brow.

"It's not really a small thing, though, is it?"

Kiibo seemed surprised by that answer, some confusion mixing into his expression.

"I... Maybe not. I am not sure..."

"It's not" Saihara insisted, now having fully sat up. "Of course it's not. We can't just rely on the experiment; this is our second best shot if we want to figure more things out about you."

Fidgeting, Kiibo sheepishly nodded.

"...I suppose you have a good point there. I apologise."

"It's alright. I mean..." Saihara averted his gaze again. "I do know that it wasn't very smart, probably. But we have limited options. I just thought it was worth a shot."

"I understand."

"Are you sure you're not mad...?"

"Please do not worry. I'm not mad at all" exhaling for whatever reason, Kiibo added: "I just want you to get some rest. So again, do tell me if there is a way I could assist you."

His throat dry, Saihara swallowed. He wasn't mad. Kiibo wasn't mad. He might be okay with it. Even if it would make him sound childish, he wanted to try.

"If... o-only if you don't mind, uhm..." Saihara fumbled for words, feeling Kiibo's eyes on him, patiently waiting. "Do you think... you could... l-lie in bed with me?"

Of course that had to come out the wrong way, too. Like everything he ever said.

Bright red, Kiibo stared at him without saying anything, eyes wide. Saihara flailed his arms as he tried to explain himself, quite flushed as well.

"T-that's now what I meant! J-just...It's fine, let's pretend I never said that-"

Eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment, he felt the covers shift a little, a leg brushing past his own.

"L-like this?"

He hesitantly opened his eyes to see Kiibo having taken a seat next to him, as awkward as ever about it, a hand laid on top of his own. Oh. Saihara's breath hitched; he shakily nodded. Slowly lying back down, Kiibo followed his example - Saihara had to stop himself from leaping out of bed and sprinting out the door. Unused to physical closeness of this kind, all he could do was try and control his heart rate, with little to no success. Still, though... as nervous as it made him feel, it was also kind of nice. Very nice, in fact. He was pretty sure it would have been impossible for him to blush harder.

Closing his eyes, he lied almost completely still, the feeling of a shoulder against his own making his skin tingle a little - he almost wanted to take his time falling asleep, if it hadn't been for the overwhelming wave of exhaustion that washed over him the moment he relaxed a little. At least he should be able to sleep now, hopefully.

The next morning, he woke up with his arms wrapped around the other boy.

\------------------------------------

Plugging the USB stick into the tablet, Kiibo peering over his shoulder, Saihara wondered what they’d even be able to find. He hadn’t even seen his own files before - he didn’t really have an idea what to expect. He knew complete background checks weren’t always a possibility, at the very least, so that bit might be a little… lacking, if there even was one - there had to be, right? They couldn’t just scout students without checking them first…

Looking through the oh so nicely organised folders - Amami had copied him the entire class, since Saihara didn’t give him any specifics -, it didn’t take him long to find the profile he’d been looking for. His eyes immediately went to the bit right under the name - the talent. _Super High School Level Robotics Club Member._ Yeah, that seemed pretty fitting. Kiibo perked up behind him, leaning in close enough for his hair to be lightly touching the side of Saihara’s cheek. Saihara didn’t move his head.

Scanning the folder for anything useful - speed reading everything -, Kiibo barely able to keep up. Well, he didn't seem to mind as much as Saihara thought he would. He was probably curious enough not to care about the pace for now - besides, there was quite a bit of stuff neither of them really cared about. When they reached his grades, Kiibo sighed, relieved that they were pretty great for the most part. It was almost funny how concerned he seemed to be about it. It was fair enough, though; Saihara would have preferred to know that he was a good student himself, if he'd forgotten about it.

Reaching the end of the document in around half an hour, Saihara glanced at his notepad, a few more pages filled with the notes he'd taken. Good. As bad as he still felt about it, this had definitely been a smart move on their part. Kiibo had passed away in the middle of the school year, after all; if this whole thing was happening because he had some kind of unfulfilled wish, it was safe to assume they'd find some kind of hint in his files. Kiibo must have known that as well.

Holding onto his own notes, he offered the tablet to Kiibo.

"You can take a closer look, if you want" he said, Kiibo taking it very carefully, as though it could break any moment. "I'd like a bit of time to piece some things together, so..." his voice trailed off, and Kiibo nodded.

"...Thank you" was the response he seemed to have settled on. Saihara smiled.

Ripping out the pages and laying them out on the desk so he could see everything at once, he placed a hand on his chin, brows furrowing thoughtfully. For the most part, the information he got was pretty generic; no signs of breaking school regulations and whatnot - as if that was a surprise -, highly above average grades, nothing unusual in the physical examination section. In the eyes of the faculty members, he must have just been a normal student. Then...

There was also a record of all the things he's worked on in private, regarding his talent. Saihara had no idea what half the things listed there were - that either meant they were really impressive, or just weird as hell. Knowing Kiibo, it was most likely the former. He could ask him about it, but... considering he wouldn't have known his talent, had he not read the files, it would have been highly unlikely for him to remember anything. For now, at least.

Would it be a stretch to assume that his talent held the key to the solution...? Maybe...

His thought process was interrupted by the sound of Kiibo placing the tablet down. When Saihara glanced in his direction, he was holding his head, pale white fingertips trembling as his fingers dug into his skin, wearing a pained expression. Immediately standing up and walking over, Saihara called out to him, worried.

"Are you okay?"

No, stupid question.

"Does your head hurt again...?"

Kiibo managed a nod, eyes squeezed shut. Carefully placing his hands on top of Kiibo's own, Saihara spoke in a low, gentle voice, mumbling various reassurances. Kiibo's hands slipping from Saihara's loose grip, a pair of arms were wrapped around the detective's torso, a head buried in the crook of his neck. Saihara rearranging his hands - his left one on the back of Kiibo's head, softly stroking his hair, his right one sliding to Kiibo's back, between his shoulder blades, slowly tracing a circular pattern.

"It's okay, just let it all out" he half-whispered, waiting patiently for the other to calm down.

"I know..." Kiibo's voice sounded strained, as though he was forcing himself to talk. "It just... really hurts..."

His hold around Saihara tightened to the point where it was almost painful.

Saihara didn't mind, though.

\------------------------------------

Fortunately, Kiibo’s headache didn’t last for very long - after 10 minutes, it had mellowed out enough for him to be able to ignore it, for the most part. Saihara was glad; he didn’t mind having to comfort him, but he certainly didn’t like seeing Kiibo in pain, so he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when Kiibo released him from his death grip, seemingly in a much better state.

Saihara wondered if it would be okay for him to ask anything just yet - regardless of whether his new memories were good or bad, straining his memory so soon might just cause the pain to return. And Saihara wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk that just yet. Kiibo seemed like he needed a bit of a break as well, so Saihara decided to give him some peace, heading out into the hallway to get something to drink before the cafeteria closed down for the day. Maybe he could drink some tea with Toujou - she did seem to be fond of doing that late in the day.

As he walked past a corner, though, he almost got knocked to the ground by someone quite literally running into him, grabbing onto the wall just in time before they both fell. Steadying himself, Saihara blinked, unable to see anyone in front of him, before he slowly lowered his head, staring down at a familiar, cat shaped hat. Ah.

Apologising for the incident, Hoshi stepped away from him, looking ever so slightly disheveled. That sure was a sight to see - Saihara was pretty sure he hadn’t seen him get worked up over _anything_ so far.

“Are… you okay there?” Saihara asked, unsure if he should bring up his appearance.

“Yes, I’m fine” his posture strangely rigid, Saihara’s curiosity only grew. “If you’ll excuse me, though, I have someplace to be.”

Hurrying past Saihara, he almost managed to get away, but not before a small, muffled meow sounded from his direction. Saihara raised a brow. Did… Did Hoshi’s hat just move…? Hoshi froze, his poker face still present as he turned his head around to look at Saihara. Neither of the two saying a word, they stared at each other for a minute straight, before Hoshi turned his back, walking away like nothing had ever happened.

Saihara thought he heard another meow in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgot to mention this beforehand, but both the talent & name for human!keeb came from cenicart on tumblr, follow her,,, her art is Good


	19. Curiosity killed the cat

"We aren't allowed to keep pets... right?"

Raising her head to look up from her homework, Kaede took a few seconds to reply.

"Not unless our talent is specifically related to animals; at least, I'm pretty sure" she said, wearing a thoughtful expression. "Why? Do you want one?"

"Oh, no, I was just curious" Saihara made an excuse, resuming scribbling in his notebook. Pets would include cats, right? Which would mean...

Tapping her chin with a finger, Kaede continued.

"Actually, speaking of pets, I've been wondering about something for a while" she said, leaning back in her seat. The librarian gave them a nasty look for talking so much, so Saihara lowered his voice to a whisper.

"What do you mean?"

"Well" Kaede tilted her head to the side, "you see, Toujou told me more food's been going missing recently - especially meat. She also said that when she cleans... uhm, Hoshi's room sometimes, she hears strange noises. Do you think Hoshi is secretly keeping a pet?"

She brought it up so casually; Saihara had to ask himself why he'd been so awkward about it.

"I think he had a cat with him yesterday" Saihara said hesitantly, unsure if he should blow Hoshi's cover or not. Kaede surely wouldn't do anything mean-spirited like tell on him, would she? "It's possible."

"Hmm..." Kaede hummed under her breath, voice strangely melodic - must have been a habit of hers, Saihara figured -, drumming her fingers rhythmically on the table. She seemed to be thinking something over carefully, brows furrowing just a little bit. "Do you think we should ask him about it?"

"Why?" Saihara raised a brow.

"It would be easier if all of us knew about it and he didn't have to hide it from us, right? I don't think any of us would tell the teachers, either."

Maybe. She had a point, Saihara just wasn't sure if meddling in Hoshi's business was such a good idea. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he just had this intimidating aura around him, and despite his remarkably short stature, Saihara found himself feeling a little nervous around him sometimes.

But maybe that was just him. Kaede seemed perfectly fine.

"He'd just deny it, though, wouldn't he?" Saihara said, sounding as uncertain as ever, to which Kaede shrugged.

"We could still give it a shot."

She stood up all of a sudden, leaving Saihara slightly startled, a determined look in her eyes.

"Let's do it."

"What, _now_!?"

"Yes!"

Grabbing Saihara by the wrist - leaving all their stuff behind with a very pissed off librarian -, she dragged him out into the hallway, turning her head to try and see if Hoshi was around. Thanks to the ridiculously strong grip she had on him, Saihara had no hope of escaping, forced to try and keep up with her practically sprinting to the dormitory. While she knocked on Hoshi's door, waiting for him to answer, Saihara finally managed to free himself from her clutches, leaning against the wall to catch his breath.

The door opening after what felt like an eternity, Hoshi stuck his head outside, surprised by the unexpected visit.

"Can I help you?" he asked, glancing between the two. Saihara fought the urge to hide behind Kaede.

"We just want you to know" Kaede started, smiling widely, "if you have something worrying you, you can talk to us about it. Saihara and I both would be glad to help out a classmate."

Saihara buried his face in his hands. No way this was going to work - who would go and visit someone on a whim just to say that? Hoshi wasn't gullible; in fact, he seemed pretty sharp, from what Saihara could tell - he wouldn't fall for something so transparent...

"...Hmm, so you noticed."

Saihara didn't know what to think anymore.

Crossing his arms, Hoshi had a strange look in his eyes; not really angry or upset like Saihara thought he would be, but rather, somewhere between relieved and hesitant.

"I suppose it can't be helped" he spoke calmly, as though he'd already prepared himself for a situation along these lines. "I admit I've been considering asking for some assistance. I would have preferred not burdening any of you with my personal problems, but I'm afraid this has become rather difficult for me to handle."

He opened the door a bit more, and Saihara's jaw dropped.

True, based on what Kaede had told him, he'd suspected Hoshi was keeping multiple cats - for the amount of food disappearing to be noticeable, he had to have taken a considerable amount -, but he definitely wasn't expecting this.

Altogether, there were about 15 cats scattered across the room. Lazing around on the bed, lying across the floor, the cabinets, even Hoshi's desk; Saihara almost felt like he was looking at an animal shelter. That, or the bedroom of a crazy cat lady. Along the wall, on the floor were several empty bowls, as well as a couple filled with water.

Kaede, just as speechless as Saihara, stood completely motionless, taking the sight in silently. Once he was sure they'd seen everything, Hoshi stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He probably didn't want someone else noticing his... issue.

"...Why do you have so many?" Kaede asked, once she managed to get over the initial shock.

"Around the school gates" Hoshi replied, as nonchalantly as possible. "None of them had any tags, and I didn't recall seeing any missing posters of them, so they were most likely strays."

The fact that he could apparently remember missing cat posters accurately enough to be able to say that with confidence was kind of amazing.

"So... you took them in?"

"I couldn't just leave them on the streets" Hoshi answered, as if it was obvious. Saihara knew Hoshi liked cats - he'd occasionally spotted him petting cats outside -, but this was far beyond anything he'd imagined. His voice still stuck in his throat, he decided to let Kaede handle this for now.

"Well, uhm" Kaede cleared her throat. "How would you like us to help you?"

At the look Hoshi gave him, Saihara's stomach dropped. He wouldn't ask for _that_ , would he? Breaking school regulations once wasn't something that Saihara could just take back at this point, but he'd been hoping it would be a one-time thing.

Glancing at Kaede's eager expression, Saihara sighed.

\------------------------------------

Staring at the cat in his hands, Saihara wondered how he got himself into this mess.

Hoshi had asked them if they could find some new owners for the cats - that part was alright, Saihara had no objections whatsoever -, but then Kaede just had to go and offer to take a pair in the meantime, urging Saihara to take one as well. Feeling pressured by the expectant looks thrown his way, Saihara caved, agreeing to taking care of one of them. Just one - he hadn't kept a pet before, after all; he would've preferred to play it safe for now. Hoshi had given them an extended lecture on cat ownership, Saihara diligently writing down his every word in his notepad, but he was still a bit concerned - more for the cat, rather than himself.

The cat - Patches, as Hoshi called her - was taking things pretty well, ear occasionally twitching as she let Saihara hold her up. Kiibo was sure to give him a stern lecture - Saihara was already preparing himself mentally, listing every possible excuse he could think of that couldn't just be summarized as 'I'm a pushover, and the word 'no' is missing from my vocabulary'. There weren't many. He really had to learn to stand up for himself, didn't he?

Sneaking across the hallway, praying to not be noticed, he quickly opened the door to his room, shutting it behind him and leaning against it with a sigh. Leaping from his hold, Patches immediately claimed the bed as hers, curling up into a small ball. Startled, Kiibo almost jumped, staring at the cat with wide eyes before looking back up at Saihara. He opened his mouth, but Saihara spoke first.

"I can explain."

And so, trying his best to ignore Patches scratching his sheets, Saihara began talking. Surprisingly, Kiibo didn't chew him out for it, instead asking questions about the cat, looking kind of... giddy. Was Kiibo a cat person...?

"Ah, I apologise" he said, upon noticing Saihara's confusion. "We used to have a cat, back at home, so I may have gotten a tad overexcited."

That would explain it.

"I was kind of expecting you to scold me, actually" Saihara mentioned offhand, watching Kiibo get flustered over it.

"W-well, while it might be against the rules, it is for a good cause, is it not?"

Saihara narrowed his eyes.

"You just want to keep the cat, don't you?"

Kiibo's sheepish nod confirmed it for him. Oh, well, whatever. At least he'd have some company now while Saihara was away. And Saihara wouldn't have to worry about Patches' destructive habits.

Besides, he was sure he wouldn't be able to remember everything Hoshi told him, even with a written record.

Kiibo petting the cat, looking rather content, Saihara recalled how he'd left his bag at the library. He sure wasn't looking forward to being glared at by the librarian again, but he had to finish his homework anyway. Bidding a quick goodbye to a very occupied Kiibo, he left to collect his belongings.

\------------------------------------

_"Kitty!"_

_Chasing the cat around the house, he runs as fast as possible, tripping over various objects in the process, narrowly avoiding a fall each time. His father glances at him from his work, shaking his head with a smile._

_"I'm not sure she appreciates that, you know."_

_The boy pouts, climbing over a chair._

_"But she won't let me pet her..."_

_"She might just be a little scared. She is still a kitten; give her some time."_

_The boy reluctantly nods, hopping down on the chair to glance at the cat. Its ears twitching, it lies down on the floor, licking its fur while still keeping an eye on the boy._

_"Will she let me pet her later?"_

_"I'm sure she will."_

_\------------------------------------_

_He calls out to the cat, crawling on all fours. He could've sworn he saw it climbing underneath the sofa, but it's nowhere to be seen now. He sighs, slowly straightening up and dusting off his pants, then looks around the room._

_Ah. There._

_Grabbing the small, mechanical mouse from the table, he sets it on the floor and switches it on. This should do it. The mouse begins sliding across the floor, high-pitched sounds coming from the tiny speakers on its stomach, and the cat instantly appears from behind a toolbox, pouncing on the toy._

_He lets the cat play around a little before picking it up, setting it down next to the bowl of food he'd prepared for it earlier._

_"Come, now. You can't always expect dad to take care of you."_

_Annoyed, the cat flicks its tail at him, but starts eating anyway._

_\------------------------------------_

_Hugging the cat to his chest, his quiet sobs going unnoticed, he shuts his eyes, tears dripping down his cheeks. His body shakes with every breath - he can't remember the last time he cried, but he knows it wasn't this bad. There's a dull pain in his chest that just won't go away. It hurts._

_The cat, distressed, meows, but he finds himself unable to stop, his breath hitching every few seconds. He wonders if it's like this for everyone - losing someone important. If so, that's just cruel. It's not fair; he's sure it's not._

_Suddenly, he feels a sharp pain on his arm. He looks down, and there's blood. The cat scratched him. He must've been holding it too tightly. Placing the cat down, his voice trembles._

_"I'm sorry."_

_\------------------------------------_

Saihara woke up to the feeling of something heavy landing on his stomach. He sat up, coughing, gasping for air, Patches gazing at him from his lap with wide, innocent eyes. His heart hammering in his chest from his sudden awakening, Saihara squinted at the cat, already regretting taking it.

"Are you alright?" Kiibo's voice came from his right, and Saihara pointed at the cat with the grumpiest expression he could muster - which probably just made him look like a sulking child, but he was too tired to really care.

"I almost died of a heart attack. But yes, I'm fine."

Kiibo did seem like he was feeling pretty guilty about it, though, so Saihara composed himself with a sigh, beckoning him closer. As Kiibo approached him, Saihara gently took hold of his wrist, pulling him down to his level.

“I’m not mad, alright?” he said, to which Kiibo averted his gaze. Softly placing a hand on the side of his cheek, Saihara rose slightly, brushing a bit of Kiibo’s hair to the side before pausing for a moment. “Is this… okay?”

Kiibo nodded, slightly flushed, and Saihara shyly pressed a kiss to his forehead, quite a bit embarrassed himself.

“Don’t feel bad.”

Kiibo nodded again, tugging at Saihara’s sleeve to get his attention.

“Can I…?” he asked, too shy to get the entire sentence out, to which Saihara wordlessly squeezed his hand, giving him silent permission. Careful and slow, so they wouldn’t bump noses, Kiibo gave him a small peck on the lips, and Saihara could feel his heart melt.

He was _most definitely_ not bringing up the dream topic anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont overthink the title its just me being a smartass  
> also shuuchi pls,,, you cant procrastinate on the thing forever, be a man and do it


	20. Ouma Kokichi doesn't smile

"Saihara, you've got some hair on you."

A hand touching his back, Saihara froze, Ouma grinning behind him as he proceeded to dust off Saihara's shirt. Hoshi's stare boring into him from the other side of the classroom, Saihara tensed up - it wasn't like he could see his own back; if there was any cat hair, he couldn't have noticed. Ouma, on the other hand, was as observant as ever.

"Ah, uhm, t-thank you" Saihara stuttered, caught off-guard momentarily. Placing his hands on his hips, Ouma puffed his chest out.

He seemed to be back to normal - as soon as Saihara stopped trying to bring up the whole... crush thing, Ouma began acting like none of it had ever happened, messing around with Saihara on a daily basis. While that certainly made things easier, Saihara still wasn't sure if leaving it be was the right thing to do, but since Ouma had been proven to be exceptionally stubborn, he didn't exactly have a choice. Not for now, at least.

"Did you get mobbed by a group of cats or something?" Ouma giggled, and Saihara forced a smile.

"Kind of."

Honestly, that was probably as close as he was going to get.

"By the way" Ouma hummed, hopping onto a desk to take a seat on it, "how's ghost boy doing?"

Not having expected a question like that, Saihara blinked, and Ouma stuck his tongue out. He continued before Saihara could, already anticipating what he was gonna say.

"It's fine, it's fine! Even if someone hears us, they won't get it!" waving his hand dismissively, Ouma gave Saihara's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Besides, I helped you out; I deserve at least an update every once in a while."

Fair enough.

"...Actually" Saihara started, glancing in the direction of the door, at his classmates slowly leaving, "I asked Yumeno if I could talk to her about something, so..."

"Perfect!" Ouma cheered. "You can tell me on the way, then."

Sighing, Saihara resigned himself to his fate, heading out into the hallway with Ouma bouncing after him, bombarding him with questions, Saihara shushing him whenever he got too loud. Half of what he was saying made no sense either - Saihara was pretty sure he was just fooling around. Well, it was better than him sitting around, sulking, annoying the hell out of anyone that tried to approach him, at the very least.

Walking past various classrooms while dodging the students running amok, Saihara came to a halt in front of the storage room, ignoring the weird looks thrown his way as he opened the door and stepped inside. Yumeno was already there, her legs crossed as she sat atop one of the boxes, her trademark half-asleep expression present, as always - then to her right, stood Tenko, arms crossed, expression stern. She greeted Saihara in a polite manner - despite obviously being suspicious as hell of him -, but the moment she saw Ouma, she looked like she just bit into a lemon.

"I thought you said only you were coming" Tenko glared at Saihara, pointing her finger at him in an accusatory manner. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Oh, don't mind me" Ouma chirped, his upbeat attitude a sharp contrast to Tenko's own. Climbing onto a tower of boxes, he took a seat in the most comfortable position possible, head lazily tilted to the side. "Dunno why we aren't just talking in a normal classroom, though."

Staring up at him as though he had just personally insulted her mother, Yumeno narrowed her eyes.

"Someone troublesome might hear us there. I can't have another mage targeting my classmates because they know too much."

Nodding along, Tenko seemed impressed.

"You're so kind and wise, Yumeno! Thinking about the safety of everyone, even at a time like this!"

Pleased, the corner of Yumeno's mouth twitched into a small smile.

"Well, either way... You have something to you'd like to know, don't you, Saihara?" her half-lidded eyes sparkling upon being able to share her knowledge were the only things giving away her excitement, her expression still bored. "Go ahead and ask. We've got time."

Glancing from a beaming Ouma to an impatient Tenko, just a little uncomfortable by all the attention, Saihara cleared his throat. This might be a bit difficult to put into words, but he had to try.

"I was wondering if you could tell me something about dreams..."

And so, he began. He tried his best to explain it as properly as possible without giving away too much - he didn't want Yumeno to go ghost-hunting in his room after all -, and Yumeno listened patiently, either too polite or lazy to interrupt. Saihara had to admit; it sounded a little silly, even coming from his own mouth, but he couldn't just pretend that it wasn't happening. And Yumeno was probably the best person to ask in this kind of situation.

Ouma, while Saihara talked, was swinging his legs back and forth, looking very much interested - Saihara couldn't tell if that was good or bad, though, Ouma's face suspiciously neutral. He could've just been curious about it, but...

Saihara just couldn't be sure what Ouma was thinking. Ever.

After he thought he'd said enough, Saihara gazed at Yumeno in nervous anticipation, waiting for her to speak. Letting out a long, low hum, she rubbed her chin, staring off into space with the look of someone who was about to fall asleep any second now. Was... that her thinking face?

"Interesting" sounded her reply, after nearly a full minute of silence, eliciting a sigh of relief from Saihara. "Memories transferring from one person to another in the shape of dreams... It is rare, but it's not unheard of."

Not in whatever world Yumeno was living in, at least.

"Something like this could only happen if the original owner of these memories shared a close bond with the recipient" she furrowed her brows before continuing. "Or if they were harboring special feelings towards that person. Whichever it is, it's a link between their souls, if you will."

Saihara didn't reply to that, Ouma's stare boring into him. It may not have been the best idea to bring him along.

"Is there any way to stop these dreams, then?" he said instead, trying his best not to break out in cold sweat.

"Hmm? Why?"

"I mean..." he averted his gaze. "It's kind of an invasion of privacy, isn't it?"

Yumeno shrugged, hopping to the floor.

"Maybe so. If you want, I could use my magic. In exchange of a favor, of course" she added after the look of surprise in Saihara's eyes. He really didn't think she'd offer.

"What would you like in return?" Saihara asked, a little wary. Yumeno dusted off her skirt, taking her time.

"You've been surrounded by this supernatural aura from day one... or two, rather. I can sense this kind of stuff, you know" she huffed a little when Saihara opened his mouth to argue. She must've felt like he was underestimating her abilities or something. "As such, I'd like to take a look in your room later."

Oh, dear. Exactly the outcome Saihara had been hoping to avoid. Tenko seemed horrified herself, that Yumeno would invite herself to a boy's room like that.

"B-but Yumeno, what if he tries something while you two are alone!?" her voice rose by an octave, to which Yumeno simply lifted her head, looking into her eyes.

"You can come as well. After all, you said you'd protect me, didn't you?"

Flushing bright red, Tenko couldn't come up with a response to that - Saihara could have sworn he saw Yumeno blush too, for a split second. She must've been really desperate to figure out Saihara's secret, for her to rely on Tenko instead of boasting about her own powers.

Either that, or she just wanted to make Tenko really happy.

"I won't do anything, if that's what you're worried about" Yumeno turned to Saihara, crossing her arms. "And I won't tell Angie either."

Saihara paused. She didn't seem like she was lying - and she _was_ pretty lazy; why would she do anything in the first place? Just letting her get one look wouldn't end that badly... Probably.

"...Fine" Saihara said, reluctantly agreeing to the deal. Satisfied, Yumeno nodded to herself, and went to leave the room, but not before Saihara called out to her one last time.

She stopped, standing next to the door.

"Is there any reason why you're doing this? I mean..." Saihara struggled to put it into words without accidentally offending her. "You said you need to conserve your magic."

A hint of a smile in her voice, Yumeno took Tenko's hand.

"I'm in a good mood today" she said, Saihara's eyes following her hand on instinct. Around her wrist was a bracelet, made up of red and white beads, a tiny, heart shaped charm hanging off of it - Tenko was wearing another one just like it; their sleeves must've covered them up for Saihara to not notice them before. Guiding a flustered Tenko outside, Yumeno left without closing the door.

Sliding to the floor as well, Ouma landed right by Saihara, startling him a little.

“Whelp” he gave Saihara’s shoulder a few pats, all the while grinning. “Don’t worry about it. If they try anything, I’ll be sure to stop them!”

Sending him a sideways glance, Saihara raised a brow.

“…And you, as well” he said, Ouma gazing back at him innocently. “Why are _you_ trying to help?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Ouma tilted his head, hands in his pockets. “Am I not allowed to help now? That really hurts, you know!”

Ignoring Ouma’s fake crying, Saihara steeled himself, standing between him and the door.

“You can’t keep dodging every topic that you don’t like” Saihara held his arms up, stopping Ouma as he tried to sidestep him. “Just tell me. Please.”

Staring at him with an unreadable expression, Ouma balanced on his tiptoes, swaying from side to side. Saihara stood his ground, determined. If he was gonna do this at all, now was a time as good as any. Breaking out in a smile much wider than before, Ouma straightened his back, crossing his arms.

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re trying to get ghost boy to pass on, aren’t you?” he spun around, laughing. “That’s good for me too, you know. Because once he’s out of the picture, I’ll have you all to myself.”

Saihara didn’t move.

“You’re lying again.”

“I’m not!” Ouma giggled. “You’re way too suspicious of me, Saihara.”

Walking around in a circle in the room, his steps were light, his arms outstretched by his side, tracing the shelves with the tips of his fingers.

“…Why can’t you just admit it if you’re doing something out of kindness?”

Jumping over a pile of folded up shirts, Ouma leaned against the wall.

“I’m an evil supreme leader. But you know that, don’t you?”

“You’re not evil.”

“Who told you that?” Ouma winked, picking up a tennis ball and turning it around in his hand.

“What are you-“

Raising his arm, Ouma threw the ball, hitting Saihara’s hat off his head. Stunned, Saihara stumbled outside, Ouma dashing past him. Before Saihara could even properly react, Ouma disappeared behind a corner, a few confused students whispering among each other. A pair of feet stepping in his view, he looked up to see Momota holding his hat out to him, offering his free hand. Letting Momota pull him to his feet, Saihara put his hat back on, avoiding the curious glances thrown his way.

“Thanks.”

Momota shrugged.

“No idea what just happened, but don’t mention it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tHE TITLE ISNT LAZY ITS JUST CLEVER,,, PLS,,,,, im,,,,,,, a filthy weeb


	21. Red exorcist

Opening the door to his room, Saihara was greeted by Patches leaping at him, her claws out, hanging off of his shirt. Staring down at the cat, too stressed out after the day to even get mad properly, Saihara only sighed, to which Kiibo reacted with a worried look.

“Are you alright?” he carefully removed the cat, placing it on the floor. “You seem rather bothered by something.”

That would be an understatement. Ouma’s words still fresh in his mind, Saihara couldn’t help but feel uneasy; about the fact that Ouma felt the need to lie about his feelings, about his own inability to simply resolve the situation, and… about one specific thing that Ouma said. Was he trying to get Kiibo to pass on? Is that what he was doing? He’d never given this much thought before - the desire to find the truth just came to him naturally -, so he didn’t know what to think.

It _would_ be the right thing to do… right? If this was a work of fiction, Saihara knew how it would go. After figuring out every bit of the mystery, they would find a way to fulfill the wish that got Kiibo into this mess in the first place, then there would be a long, tear-jerking scene at the end where they had to say goodbye to each other. Kiibo would disappear, and Saihara would never see him again. And the story would end.

But he couldn’t use fiction as a basis, not when it came to real life. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted - he knew he didn’t want to leave the situation as it was, but he didn’t know what else he could do. Was there even anything else for him to choose? Something that didn’t involve either straight up getting rid of Kiibo, or leaving him as he was without doing anything about it… Did an option like that really exist?

Not to mention, he had more pressing issues to deal with as well. He had to talk to Kiibo about the dreams before Yumeno could do anything to solve them, and he really wasn’t looking forward to his reaction. Sure, he couldn’t control a phenomenon like that, but being able to see into someone’s head like that just didn’t seem like something the other person would appreciate.

Saihara sat down on the bed, hands folded in his lap.

“We need to talk.”

Seeing the anxious look flashing across Kiibo’s face, Saihara was quick to continue.

“It’s nothing that big! I mean… it kind of is, but…” he fumbled for words clumsily, simultaneously trying to reassure Kiibo and prepare himself to spill. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. “Remember that one dream I had that I told you about?”

Kiibo nodded, and Saihara began talking.

He told Kiibo about each dream he’d had, one by one, then he told him about his deal with Yumeno and Tenko, trying to keep it as simple as possible. Kiibo listened intently, seemingly wanting to interrupt, but keeping quiet for Saihara’s sake. That made it a little easier to speak; not having to worry about having to explain himself mid-sentence. His explanation was still pretty chaotic, though. He wasn’t sure how much Kiibo understood of it.

After he thought he’d said enough to the point where he’d start talking in circles if he continued, he closed his mouth, subtly taking a small breath.

“That’s about it. I’m sorry for not telling you earlier.”

The lack of a reply from the other making him squirm a little, Saihara continued.

“I hope you’re not upset or anything.”

Flinching, Kiibo shook his head, snapping out of whatever trance he’d been in.

“Oh, no, that is…” having quite a bit of trouble with phrasing himself, he cleared his throat. “I’m not upset. I am just… a little confused, I suppose.”

Fidgeting, he averted his gaze; Saihara bit his lip, unsure what he should say next. Did Kiibo even want to have this discussion right now? Maybe Saihara was just making him uncomfortable. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought up the topic, maybe he shouldn’t have gone to Yumeno in the first place… Or maybe he should’ve just been honest about it from the start. Maybe he should stop for today and-

A finger brushed his lip.

“You’re bleeding” Kiibo murmured, drawing his hand back. “Please be more careful.”

Unable to get any sound out, Saihara nodded faintly. Cheeks heating up, he finally picked up on the stinging sensation. He must’ve bitten down too hard.

“…Sorry” Saihara sighed, trying his best to keep his cool. “I guess today just took a bit of a toll on me. And…”

He felt a hand curl around his own, and his heart rate jumped a little before gradually slowing back down.

“It just makes me feel uncomfortable. I shouldn’t be seeing those things, I shouldn’t know about them without you telling me.”

Kiibo’s eyes wandered around as he organized his thoughts, all the while lightly squeezing Saihara’s hand. Focusing on the warmth, Saihara had a little less difficulty keeping his cool.

“I suppose, but…” Kiibo’s voice trailed off, uncertain as to how he should continue. “I do not mind it as much if it’s you.”

Oh.

“I mean, you didn’t see anything… embarrassing, did you?”

Saihara shook his head.

“Then it should be fine. Please do not worry about it.”

Kiibo’s eyes bore into Saihara’s own, causing the other to feel even more flustered. He slowly leaned closer, seemingly intent on giving him a kiss, before giving up and burying his flushed face in Saihara’s chest.

“This is unfair, you know. I do not have much experience with… r-romance” he mumbled, and Saihara’s breath hitched a little. “I am… not sure why this is so difficult.”

“I d-don’t really have any experience either” Saihara blurted out before he could stop himself, and he felt Kiibo stir a little.

“Still, you seem to have less trouble with these things than me… It’s strange.”

He sounded confused enough, his voice a tad muffled as he practically wrapped himself around Saihara, as though the tighter he clung on, the easier the embarrassment was to handle. A thought popped into Saihara’s head.

“Maybe it’s because you haven’t had much contact with anyone for a long time” he said, Kiibo hesitantly lifting his head. “So if you get used to it…”

Saihara didn’t get to finish the sentence, Kiibo raising his head and accidentally bumping into Saihara’s chin, almost causing him to bite his tongue.

“A-ah, I’m sorry…!”

“It’s okay” Saihara smiled nervously, rubbing the spot where they’d collided. It was a little sore, but not enough to leave a bruise. “Like I said; just be patient, and you’ll be fine.”

He was kind of saying that to himself, as well, despite his composed exterior. But Kiibo didn’t need to know that. Maybe if he could just…

Cupping Kiibo’s face between his hands, Saihara planted a kiss on his forehead, ignoring the butterflies filling his stomach.

“S-see? It’s not scary, right?”

Blushing a bright shade of red, Kiibo took Saihara’s hands, lacing their fingers together as he straightened up, clumsily pressing their lips together. Neither of the two really had any idea what they were doing, shyly pecking at each other like a pair of birds. Saihara wondered if that was how kissing worked - he’d never kissed anyone else, after all. Was he doing this right…? He knew french kissing was a thing, but he couldn’t just do something like that out of nowhere, especially not with his lack of proper knowledge and whatnot.

He made a noise in the back of his throat at the thought, and Kiibo drew back, startled.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, it’s nothing…” resisting the urge to hide his face, Saihara nodded, looking everywhere but at the other boy.

“Should we stop…?”

Puzzled, Kiibo stared at him bashfully, probably trying to figure out what had gotten into him all of a sudden.

“No, that’s not it…” Saihara swallowed. Should he… bring that up? No, no, bad idea; _whatever you do, don’t do that._ “I guess I’m just… worried. That I’m not doing this right.”

“O-oh…”

Both of them went quiet, before Kiibo spoke up again.

“Maybe we should, uhm… concentrate on other things for now” he reluctantly let go of Saihara’s hands, letting his own arms hang by his side. “I would like to properly research these things as well.”

Saihara went red at that, already missing the feeling of Kiibo’s hands in his own, but only responded with a small nod. It would probably be better this way. He should try and prepare himself for Yumeno’s visit, for now.

Slowly floating away, Kiibo picked Patches up from Saihara’s bag before she could tear it to pieces, placing her down on the floor, a few feet away. Saihara stood up from the bed, stretching his back a little.

He really needed a break.

_\------------------------------------_

Yumeno closed the door behind her, turning her head curiously. Tenko stood by her side, wearing a wary expression, as though something could jump out and attack her any moment. The cat would have, probably, but Saihara had left her in Hoshi's room for the time being. He didn't wanna have to explain that bit as well.

"Well?" Yumeno crossed her arms, giving Saihara a stern look. Saihara quietly exhaled, and Kiibo popped out of thin air without Saihara having to tell him to. Might as well get it over with.

The first thing Tenko did was let out a bloodcurdling scream, deafening everyone in the room, before picking Yumeno up and hugging her to her chest.

"I-i-it's a g-ghost!"

Her horrified expression made for a startling contrast between Yumeno's own sleepy one. Weakly flailing in Tenko's arms, she squirmed to be dropped back onto the floor. Tenko was strong, though.

"Put me down..." she managed to get one of her arms free, pulling at Tenko's own to get her to let go. "Tenko."

First name basis. Even Saihara almost blushed.

Hearing Yumeno refer to her as such, Tenko immediately went limp, her frozen expression of terror quickly shifting to one of embarrassment. Cheeks tinted a violent shade of red, she stood completely still as Yumeno wrestled herself out of her grasp, landing on the floor with a surprising amount of cleverness.

"Tenko" Yumeno repeated, causing Tenko to be even more flustered, "calm down. This is along the lines of what I was expecting."

Tenko gave her a silent, shaky nod, and Yumeno turned to Kiibo.

"I'm Yumeno Himiko, the Super High School Level Mage" her voice as monotone as ever, she stared at him through half-lidded eyes. "And you are...?"

"Ah, uhm, Kii-" cutting himself off, Kiibo shook his head, having gotten too used to going around with that name. "...Iidabashi Tetsuya. Nice to meet you."

Yumeno nodded to herself, scanning him from top to bottom, humming under her breath.

"I see, I see..." she mumbled, Kiibo nervously glancing between her and Saihara. Saihara gave him a tiny, reassuring smile. They should be fine...

Hopefully.

"Well" Yumeno spoke, startling both of them, "I'm not going to exorcise you, because that would be too much of a pain. But you should probably either try to pass on, or find yourself a body. Soon."

Kiibo blinked, confused.

"Why?"

"Your connection to this world feels weak" Yumeno explained with a yawn. "You're going to disappear sooner or later, if this goes on. You've already been this way for several years, haven't you?"

Kiibo sheepishly nodded.

"Thought so. You won't last much longer. Probably another year or so, at most. Maybe not even that much."

Yumeno took a wooden wand out of her pocket, waving it around.

"Well, I guess passing on would result in the same thing. But at least you could do so with an eased mind" she shrugged.

Overwhelmed by the sudden information, Kiibo didn't know how to respond. Neither did Saihara, if he had to be honest. Saying that it was unexpected would have been an understatement. This... was worrying.

"Why are you two being so quiet?" Yumeno sounded a little annoyed, turning from Kiibo to Saihara. Saihara flinched.

"S-sorry, I was just... you kind of caught me off guard" he said, avoiding her prying gaze. Yumeno puffed her cheeks like a sulking child.

"In that case, let's just get straight to business. I don't have time to be fooling around, I'll have you know" she said with a tiny huff. Tenko, who still hadn't recovered from her shock, would have probably backed her up any other time, swooning about how Yumeno was so good at time management... but as of right now, she was still stuck in the same exact pose she froze in. It would have been kind of funny, if not for the situation they were in.

"Okay" Saihara replied, once he realised Yumeno was waiting for him to say something. "Uhm, please do... whatever you're supposed to."

Yumeno scrunched her face up at his phrasing, but Saihara wasn't sure he could've put that better. He really had no idea what she was going to do.

Walking up to him, Yumeno pointed at him before gesturing for him to bend down.

"I can't reach."

She seemed kind of grumpy about it.

Saihara did as she told him to, hunching over until his head was low enough for her to touch. Placing a hand on his forehead, Yumeno waved her wand again, muttering something so quietly that Saihara wasn't able to make it out, and touched the wand to his head. Feeling like he just got zapped, Saihara stumbled backwards, almost tripping over himself, as Yumeno gazed at him with an indifferent look in her eyes.

"There we go."

"...Was that it?" Saihara blinked, holding his head. He wasn't sure which bit surprised him more; the fact that it didn't even take Yumeno a minute, or the fact that her weird spell felt like he just smashed his head into an electric fence. Maybe she couldn't do real magic after all, and just poked him with a taser.

"What are you, deaf?" Yumeno grimaced, before grabbing onto Tenko's hand for support, her legs trembling a little. Apparently she wasn't lying when she said magic required a lot of energy. Snapping back to reality, Tenko gave her a worried look.

"Yumeno, are you okay!?"

"I'm fine..." Yumeno mumbled, hanging onto her tightly. "Just a little tired."

Tenko glared at Saihara as though he'd been the cause of it all - he supposed he kind of was, in a way -, before picking Yumeno up again, this time bridal style.

"Don't worry; I'll take you to your room."

Yumeno sleepily nodded, much more pleased by the current, new position, that didn't involve her getting squeezed to death. Glancing at Saihara over her shoulder, Tenko carried Yumeno outside, leaving the two boys by themselves.

That sure went well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title is literally the worst pun i have ever made in my entire life bye  
> oN ANOTHER NOTE LOOK!!! I GOT FANART!!!!! http://minteaowo.tumblr.com/post/158010629049/  
> MY LIFE IS COMPLETE I CAN FINALLY DIE IN PEAC E


	22. Honesty is the best policy

Kaede and Iruma having a cheerful conversation on his right, and Momota teasing Harukawa on his left, Saihara tried his best to make himself look as small as possible, eating his dinner quietly. Being surrounded by couples only made him recall… _certain events_ from earlier, causing him to immediately blush every single time, so he chose to focus on the food instead, savoring Toujou’s wonderful cooking. Thanks to her skills, it was proving to be a pretty good distraction, although an occasional comment - mainly from Iruma and Momota respectively - did almost cause him to choke on a bite.

Violet eyes staring at him from the other side of the table, he was _absolutely_ sure the front was the one direction he wanted to avoid at all costs. It was bad enough to have the other four _right next to him;_ he didn’t want to get Ouma on his case as well. Or anybody else, for that matter. He wondered if people would get suspicious if he just stood up and walked off without a word. Well… he wasn’t going to, but they probably would.

A hand hitting his back, he gasped for air.

“What, thinking about the love of your life again?”

Momota’s voice caused him to freeze, several curious stares instantly boring into Saihara. Again, _exactly the outcome he’d been hoping to avoid._

He wasn’t the Super High School Level Lucky Student, that was for sure.

“N-no idea what you’re talking about” Saihara cleared his throat, in hopes of getting to avoid the topic, but to no avail… Beaming, Kaede turned to him, clasping her hands together.

“Ah, yes, speaking of which! Have you asked your crush out yet, Saihara?”

“Guys, please…” Saihara buried his face in his hands, tugging his hat lower on his head - until Momota grabbed it and pulled it right off, holding it way above his head so he wouldn’t be able to reach it. Saihara groaned, sending Momota a flat look; said person just grinned, giving him a thumbs up.

“Ooh, I’m also curious!” Shirogane joined in, her eyes sparkling. Saihara had to fight the urge to run to the nearest window and just fling himself outside.

“There’s no need to be ashamed, Shuuichi!” Angie chimed in, practically climbing over the table as she straightened up in her seat to give him a reassuring wave.

Before anybody else could embarrass him, though, the sound of a chair being pulled out, loudly scraping against the floor, interrupted the improvised questioning, all eyes turning to Ouma as he stood up, hands in his pockets. His usual smile on his face, he cleared his throat, before loudly declaring:

"Amami likes Akamatsu!"

Amami, having been silently observing until now, almost stabbed himself with his fork, and Iruma leaned over the table, pushing up her sleeve.

"That so, virgin boy!?"

Trying to hold Iruma down, Kaede glanced between Amami and Ouma, unsure if she heard that right; Ouma cackled at the reactions, turning his heels and skipping away merrily in the direction of the dorms. Amami, looking like he wanted nothing else but to be swallowed up by a hole in the floor, composed his features until he only appeared slightly upset, instead of horrified.

"Akamatsu, don't get me wrong" he started, staring a fierce Iruma down. "You're a very sweet and lovely girl, and a good friend of mine. But I don't like you that way."

Everyone beginning to talk all at once, Amami buried his face in a hand, sighing. Saihara sent him a sympathetic look, to which he only shrugged his shoulders, with the face of someone having already been defeated. Ouma had probably just made that up on the spot, but of course the class just had to go and run with it. While Saihara was glad he'd been removed from the spotlight, he really would've preferred not to have anyone else thrown under the bus either. Even if Amami would most likely be able to handle it.

A sudden wave of determination washing over him, Saihara stood up as well, making a quick excuse as he rushed after Ouma. He was done with this for good - third time's the charm; if he messes up again, he won't be able to live with himself. Turning his head frantically, he spotted Ouma in the other side of the hallway, walking leisurely. Saihara sped up.

Grabbing Ouma by the wrist, he spun him around until they were face-to-face, intent on not weakening his grip until he could be sure Ouma wouldn't run away again.

"We're going to talk right now, whether you like it or not" he said, his tone making it obvious that he won't tolerate any objections. When Ouma tried to yank his hand away, Saihara narrowed his eyes. "Ouma Kokichi, you're not a child anymore, so stop acting like one."

Ouma stopped struggling, lifting his head to finally make eye contact. Unlike his tense posture, his face was calm, unbetraying any of his current thoughts or feelings.

"...You didn't seem like the type to pull something like this" he said, carefully observing Saihara as though he was trying to analyze him. "Do you really want to solve this mystery that badly, Mr. Detective?"

"You only call yourself evil so you have somewhere to retreat to when someone corners you" he continued, unfazed by Ouma's remark. "Because you're scared of getting hurt. But you can't just run away from everything; you won't solve anything that way."

Ouma's hand twitched, but he didn't look any more willing to discuss this than before, so Saihara didn't leave him any time to speak.

"Friends trust each other. And whether you like it or not, we're friends" Saihara stared straight into his eyes, strengthening his resolve. "When you have something on your mind, you can tell me. Even if it's something like a crush, I won't think any less of you. Just talk to me. Please."

The two stood in silence for quite a bit after that - Saihara wasn't sure if Ouma was thinking over what he'd said or just waiting for Saihara to give up and leave him be, without even considering the option. Regardless of Ouma's stance on the matter, he wasn't going to throw in the towel anytime soon, not until he thoroughly hammered his point into Ouma's head.

Ouma suddenly chuckled, breaking the silence.

"Right again, as always. You're way too smart for your own good, Saihara" he let his free hand drop to his side, lips curling into a bitter smile. "Well, that's also why I like you so much."

Unsure of how to respond to that, Saihara blinked, his hold unconsciously loosening a little. Ouma didn't move, though.

"You're really weird, you know. Caring about me, even as a friend, even though all I do is tease you" he giggled, a bit closer to his usual attitude. "Not that I mind."

Saihara cautiously let go of his hand, and again, Ouma made no moves.

"You... do tease people a lot" Saihara admitted, to which Ouma nodded, as if he was just stating the obvious. "But you've helped out a lot of times before, as well. Besides, you'd never hurt any of us on purpose, would you?"

Ouma’s piercing stare was starting to unnerve him.

“What do you want?” Ouma asked, avoiding Saihara’s question, before shaking his head at himself. “Actually… let me rephrase that. What do you want me to do?”

“I…” Saihara pursed his lips, thinking that over carefully before he decided to give a proper answer. “I want you to be honest. Not just with us, but with yourself. And rely on us a bit more.”

Ouma didn’t reply right away, quietly humming under his breath instead, arms folded behind his back. Saihara silently watched as he shifted his balance from one foot to another head bobbing ever so slightly with every movement he made. Come to think of it, Ouma did tend to move around a lot. Saihara wondered if it was a nervous habit, or if he just had that much excess energy. Maybe a bit of both.

“Maybe” Ouma spoke up finally, interrupting Saihara’s thought process.

“Maybe?”

“Maybe” he repeated, nodding to himself.

Apparently that was everything he was willing to say for now. Well, it was better than nothing. Unable to think of anything else on the spot, Saihara let Ouma go on his way this time - Ouma only turning his head in his direction once he had almost reached the corner.

“By the way” he smiled, in the same goofy way that Saihara was used to, “do keep me updated on ghost boy, if possible. I _am_ rather curious as to how that’ll end.”

And off he went, disappearing with a wave; Saihara didn’t even have time to say goodbye. Saihara sighed, leaning against the wall. At least he managed to get his point across.

\------------------------------------

The first thing Saihara did when he arrived at his room was throw himself onto the bed. Sending him a sympathetic look, Kiibo resumed petting Patches, the cat curled up in his lap.

“Long day?”

“Yeah” Saihara mumbled, burying his head in his pillow. He really needed a bath - the fact that his room only had a shower was still a tad disappointing. Even if he didn’t take long most of the time, he still missed being able to soak in hot water in the evening, being able to relax for a little while. Then again, there _was_ a bath at the school, wasn’t there? He’d never gone there, personally, but maybe one of these days…

He lifted his head just as Patches jumped from Kiibo’s lap, rolling over on the floor and claiming Saihara’s bag as hers - again.

“I suppose now would not be a good time to discuss anything serious, then.”

Saihara looked up at that, wanting to object on reflex, but instead dropping back down in the end. It was rather late, and he wasn’t sure if he had the energy to have another big conversation right now, even if he wanted to.

“It’s nothing urgent, at least not for now. Please do not worry.”

Kiibo’s reaction was a bit worrying - ‘for now’? -, but Saihara chose to trust him. He wouldn’t lie about something like that; they’d talked about heavy stuff various times in the middle of the night, so it wasn’t like he had a reason to avoid that this time, if it was important. Saihara could just ask him tomorrow; right now, he wanted nothing more than some peace and quiet. Although…

There _was_ one thing he wanted to try, he supposed. He’d been paying a lot more attention to the couples around him - suddenly hyperaware of all their little acts of affection, for some unexplainable reason -, for better or for worse, and had started noticing each of their habits. Kaede and Iruma were both pretty touchy-feely, and had gotten to the point where they weren’t afraid to cuddle in public. Tenko and Yumeno loved staring at each other, regardless of whether the other person was aware or not, Tenko taking care of Yumeno whenever she appeared more tired than usual, sometimes even carrying her. Momota and Harukawa… well, Saihara wasn’t sure what exactly their relationship was, but Momota was clearly interested in her, taking great enjoyment in teasing her and getting her to blush.

Taking all of that into consideration, he examined each dynamic very carefully, wondering if he could use any of them as a guideline for himself. He was sure any of his classmates would be eager to offer romantic advice, but he didn’t want to get them too invested in his case, in case any of them got too curious, so he could only rely on his eyes. And, he had to admit, his task was rather difficult.

He did find _one_ thing, though, that he thought might be safe to start with, as embarrassing as it was to think about… He’d already done it before, once, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to make a habit of it.

Rolling over on his side, Saihara cleared his throat, hoping to ease his nerves a bit.

“Hey…” he called out to Kiibo, not lacking in his usual awkwardness. “Could I… ask you something?”

“Go ahead” Kiibo nodded, slightly tilting his head to the side. Saihara took a deep breath, as subtle as possible, and spoke.

“Do you want to start sleeping together?”

The reaction he got wasn’t quite what he expected, and he had to mentally slap himself again, for phrasing that so ambiguously. Kiibo, bright red, flailed his arms a little, trying to get some sound out to respond to that, but Saihara diligently corrected his own mistake, pushing back his own overreaction.

“W-whatever you’re thinking, that’s not what I meant.”

Kiibo’s mouth made an O shape, and - still kind of flushed - he averted his gaze.

“A-ah, I see…”

He began fidgeting, and Saihara forced himself to continue before he could chicken out.

“I meant… just sleeping in the same bed. Although I guess that might be a little boring for you, since you don’t sleep…” having second thoughts, he wondered whether bringing it up was a good idea after all - until Kiibo rapidly shook his head, cutting him off.

“It would not be boring at all; please do not assume so” he almost crashed into Saihara, he flew up to him so fast. Both of them a little startled, they stared at each other in silence, before Kiibo sheepishly backed up to give him some breathing room. “I may not sleep, but I do enjoy resting. Also…” his face heating up even more, he continued before he could stop himself. “Being close to you is… quite calming.”

Saihara swallowed, his heart hammering in his chest.

Boy, was he glad to have paid attention to Kaede and Iruma during their impromptu naps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry for anybody who likes shinguuji, i might not be able to fit him in :0 im not really good at writing him to begin with, but im not really sure how i could include him right now, just looking at my list of plot points that are left,, im sorry gimp man, i have failed u  
> also since i finished this way before my quote unquote deadline i was gonna wait to upload it but fuck it here you guys go


	23. Genuine and fake

Fingers laced together, unwilling to pull his hand back now, Saihara carefully leaned in for a kiss, bumping noses a little. Mumbling an apology, he pressed their lips together with half-lidded eyes, sticking his tongue out a little. Making an embarrassed noise, Kiibo squeezed his eyes shut.

"Is this okay?" Saihara asked, voice significantly lower than usual, to which Kiibo gave a shaky nod. Regardless of how nervous Saihara was, he'd read quite a bit on the topic, so he should be able to handle it easily... in theory. Kiibo hesitantly opening his mouth, Saihara slipped a bit of his tongue inside, shyly experimenting with the feel of it. It was strange, and even after researching it he wasn't quite sure what he was doing... but it wasn't bad or anything, only a little awkward. Kiibo was probably even more flustered, so Saihara tried his best to avoid looking at the other's expression, afraid that it might make him stop.

Kiibo made a noise in the back of his throat, startling them both, and Saihara broke the kiss, gasping for air. He forgot he was the only one who needed to breathe for a moment. Accidentally catching a glimpse of Kiibo's flushed face, Saihara felt his breath hitch, and he almost fell over in the bed. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment. It's okay. You're okay. Everything is fine and-

His phone suddenly rang and he almost jumped out of his skin. Apparently people really enjoyed scaring the hell out of him by calling him so early in the morning. Reaching for said object with a look of pure annoyance, he put on his grumpiest morning voice as he picked up the call.

"Saihara Shuuichi speaking."

"Ah, sorry, did I wake you up?"

Amami's voice on the other end caused him to relax a little, letting out a sigh.

"No, I was already up..."

Amami chuckled.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"N-no" Saihara cleared his throat, Kiibo staring at him, confused. "Did something happen?"

"I guess you could say that."

After a few seconds of silence on Saihara's part, Amami continued.

"Open your window."

The window...? Saihara knew he'd be able to see the courtyard like that - was something going on outside? Giving Kiibo an apologetic look - the latter sheepishly scooting over to give him some space -, he walked up to the window, pulling it open and sticking his head outside. He wasn't sure what he'd expected to see, but...

This was definitely not it.

Standing on top of a bench, was Momota, his arms crossed, staring down a group of students - Kaede, Iruma, and above all, Harukawa. Expression determined, Momota made wide gestures as he spoke - or rather, yelled at the top of his lungs -, the trio gazing at him in awe, annoyance, and embarrassment respectively.

"Alright, let's stop this before someone hurts themselves" Saihara heard Kaede's voice faintly, trying to get Momota to climb back down. He didn't listen, of course.

"Harumaki!" he pointed at Harukawa, the latter glaring back at him, a blushing mess at this point. "You still haven't given me an answer, you know; you can't make me wait forever!"

Ah. So he was trying to peer pressure her into either accepting or rejecting him. Momota probably didn't think of it like that, but Saihara could definitely see Harumaki taking it the wrong way. Then again, she was often unusually lenient when it came to Momota, so she might not be able to seriously get mad at him for it. For Momota's case, Saihara was hoping she'd pick the latter.

"I'm gonna show you what I'm made of by confessing in front of everybody!" Momota exclaimed, Iruma making a disgusted face.

"W-what, are you gonna tell us all about your s-sick fantasies? Filthy pervert..."

Momota, surprisingly, ignored her for a change, focused on his current task. Using his hands around his mouth as a megaphone, he shouted as loud as he possibly could.

"Hope's Peak Academy! I, Momota Kaito, have fallen for the beautiful Harukawa Maki, and I'm not ashamed to admit it!" he was suddenly interrupted by Harukawa leaping at him, covering his mouth before he could do any more damage to either of their reputations. Saihara couldn't make out what she said, but whatever it was caused Momota to go limp, before Harukawa reluctantly let go of him. Slowly breaking out in a smile, he spotted Saihara in the window, waving at him excitedly before giving him a thumbs up. A good sign.

Peering over his shoulder, Kiibo observed everything silently, fishing Patches out of Saihara’s bag for the umpteenth time.

“They sure are rowdy outside.”

Saihara’s eyes following the chaos in the courtyard, he nodded automatically, his eyes stopping on a familiar, purple clump of hair. As Ouma turned his head around, his piercing gaze met Saihara’s own, and his lips curled into a smile as he gestured for Saihara to come on down. Narrowing his eyes, Saihara let his shoulders drop in defeat, shrugging, and Ouma did a little victory dance. This was certainly one way to start the day.

“Sorry, I don’t think we can do this right now” Saihara turned to Kiibo with an apologetic expression, but Kiibo shook his head.

“Ah, I understand. We are not exactly in a hurry, so I do not mind…”

As far as he knew, they weren’t. But who knows what could happen in the near future…?

Saihara mentally slapped himself before he could finish that thought process. There was no point in worrying about things he had no control over, he knew that. He should be focusing on what he _could_ do instead, as things currently stood. Grabbing some clean clothes, he quickly changed in the bathroom, hastily throwing his sleepwear back into his bed before hurrying out the door, but not before waving bye to Kiibo. Occupied with the cat, he wasn’t as disappointed as Saihara thought he would be, so he could leave the room without too much guilt, rushing through the hallway.

Ouma wanted to talk. That was good, Saihara could deduce that much. And he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood either, so whatever he wanted, probably wasn’t that heavy. Or if it was, Ouma just didn’t consider it to be. Power walking his way to the main entrance, he opened the door just in time for Harukawa to rush past him, Momota following closely behind. She seemed to be… pouting? Momota, grinning from ear to ear, babbling about some nonsense that Saihara couldn’t quite follow so early in the morning, waved him a quick hi as he followed her into the building.

Quite a way to start the day.

Having reached the courtyard, Saihara turned his head, looking for Ouma, spotting him leaning against a tree. Leisurely waving his hand, he called Saihara over, and the detective walked up to him without any objections.

"Sooo..." Ouma tilted his head to the side. "How's ghost boy doing? You never told me if you found anything useful in those files."

Saihara blinked.

"Did... I tell you about those...?"

He was pretty sure he hadn't.

"I heard you guys talking" Ouma giggled, and Saihara's stomach dropped a little. Hopefully Ouma just had very sharp ears, and nobody else did. "Besides, you were at the school at night, and there are only so many things you'd do that for. You're not much of a rule breaker."

Saihara didn't have much difficulty recalling the night's events - all the adrenaline had made sure he'd probably never forget it -, and it was as though a light bulb lit up in his head.

"Were you the person we ran across?" He narrowed his eyes at Ouma suspiciously, and let out a sigh when Ouma cheerfully nodded. Of course they were worried about nothing; what else is new?

"You guys were really loud, you know!"

Saihara figured.

"What were you doing there, though?" Saihara asked, to which Ouma held up his index finger, placing his hand in front of his mouth.

"It's a secret" he winked; Saihara wasn't sure how to feel about that. "But anyway, answer my question!"

With Ouma whining loudly like a child, Saihara had no choice but to do so, unless he wanted to be noticed by the other students hanging out nearby. They weren't in earshot, for normal volume, that is, but if Ouma raised his voice too much, Saihara doubted they wouldn't be able to hear. And Ouma would, just to be petty.

Gesturing for him to keep it down, Saihara organized his thoughts before giving him a brief overview. Ouma nodded along, humming with a smile, looking very much interested. He probably wasn't lying about being curious - spirits and whatnot weren't something you see every day, after all -, but there was probably more to it. Saihara already knew that Ouma was aware of their... circumstances, and if anything, that most likely just made him want to know more. And, well, Saihara wasn't as annoyed as he could've been. Talking to someone about it helped him see everything better as well.

Before he was done, though, Ouma picked a specific part to interrupt.

"You should ask Yumeno about the body thing" he said, as though it was obvious. It kind of was; Saihara was just wary of approaching her; Tenko and all.

"Maybe" Saihara pursed his lips, brows furrowing slightly. If only he could catch her alone, somehow...

As though reading his mind, Ouma's smile widened.

"I've a surprise for Chabashira today. I recommend you hang in there until lunchtime."

Saihara wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

\------------------------------------

When class ended, Saihara didn't stand up straight away, gazing at Yumeno silently instead, recalling what Ouma had said earlier. Hopefully he wasn't about to do something really stupid; as a known troublemaker, if he got himself in trouble with a teacher, not even class rep Kaede could bail him out.

The sound of a high-pitched scream coming from Tenko's direction, Saihara turned around to see her with the most disgusted face ever, staring at a grinning Ouma.

"Come on, Chabashira, I promise it'll be fuuun!" he drew out the last syllable, head bobbing from side to side. Tenko looked like she was seconds from simply snapping him in half over her knee.

" _Y-you_!" she glared at him with such malice in her eyes, even Saihara couldn't help flinching. "I could put up with this if it was one of the tolerable boys asking - but of all people, it just had to be you!"

Ouma might've just dug his own grave - it was no secret that Tenko hated him, after all.

Tapping Amami on the shoulder, in case he knew what was happening, Saihara gave him a questioning look. Amami combed a hand through his hair, looking like he was very much done with Ouma's shenanigans even before they begun.

"He asked her out on a date" he said, wearing a tired expression. "He's really fond of making up fake attraction scenarios, isn't he?"

Saihara could sense a hint of annoyance in his voice - not too surprising, after the Kaede incident. He knew Iruma got on Amami's case pretty bad after that.

"...Just to make sure-"

"Not you too..." Amami buried his face in his hands, dejected. "No, I am not interested in Akamatsu, or anyone else at the moment, for that matter. Why does nobody believe me?"

Probably because he was the so-called pretty boy of the class - Saihara didn't bring that up, though, considering Amami’s dislike of being called a playboy or anything of the sort. Saihara gave his back an encouraging pat, just like how Amami always would for him.

“There, there…”

Amami only sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a french kiss is literally as lewd as im willing to go lmao  
> also! a day late, but here i am :0 were nearing the end of the fic slowly but surely (just a couple of chapters awayyyy), so im not *quite* as nervous about updating a bit slower, but i hope you guys wont mind~


	24. Accidental revelations

People talking over each other, loudly discussing what was currently going down, Saihara carefully took a couple of steps back, distancing himself from the disaster as much as possible. A pair of eyes piercing his back, he swallowed nervously before turning around, coming face to face with a very disgruntled looking Yumeno. Her cheeks puffed and eyes narrowed, she looked like a sulking child, upset that her favourite toy had been taken from her. Which, in a way, _was_ somewhat close to the truth…

Noticing Saihara staring at her, she let out a sigh.

“That fool… so troublesome. He’s lucky Tenko can handle herself, otherwise I’d smite him into oblivion.”

Somehow Saihara didn’t doubt that.

Stretching her back, she leaned back in her seat, sending Saihara a sideways glance.

“Do you perhaps need to talk to me? You seem to be standing awfully close to my desk” she yawned, taking up the most comfortable position possible. Saihara took a few seconds to answer, unsure if he should say this in front of everyone - but considering how occupied they seemed, and how noisy they were being, he figured it should be fine. Even if someone eavesdropped, they wouldn’t be able to tell what they were talking about.

“Uhm, I was wondering…” he tugged on his hat a little. “When you came to my room… You mentioned something about a body.”

“Ah, that” Yumeno glanced at him from underneath her own hat. “I suppose I wasn’t clear enough.”

“Not really…” Saihara smiled nervously, and Yumeno pouted a little.

“Well, that’s just what I’d expect from a regular student like you. I should provide an explanation, as an experienced mage” her arms crossed behind her head, she closed her eyes as she talked. If someone had turned towards them, they could’ve easily thought that Yumeno was just talking in her sleep. “I didn’t mean a corpse, in case you’re wondering. That would be distasteful, not to mention quite troublesome. When I say body, I simply mean a physical form from this realm.”

Saihara blinked.

“So… do you mean some kind of object?”

“Indeed” Yumeno nodded her head. “Anything will work, as long as it’s not alive. Ah, but I recommend you choose wisely. Once the soul is bound to it, not even I would be able to break the seal without permanently exorcising the spirit along with it. So” she opened her eyes a little to stare straight into Saihara’s own, “you have one chance to pick.”

That made sense - as much as sense as Yumeno’s weird magic stuff could, at least. Saihara had to wonder about it, though. What _was_ something that would work as a body…? He wasn’t just going to pick up a random lampshade and drag it to Yumeno…

Shirogane, choosing _now_ to pop up of all times, stuck her head between the two, eyes sparkling.

“What are _we_ talking about here? Did I hear something about a seal?”

Startled, Saihara almost stumbled on his feet. Shirogane only smiled, before straightening up and pushing her glasses up slightly.

“This reminds me of that one manga from a while back…” she’d already gone into otaku mode, ready to bombard the two with references. “The main character lost his brother in a tragic incident when they were both children, and had to sacrifice his arm to seal his brother’s spirit into a suit of armor.”

Saihara went pale; he _hoped_ he wouldn’t have to do something like that.

“It’s quite good, I highly recommend you give it a read” Shirogane beamed, clasping her hands together. “It’s rather lengthy, but it _is_ a classic.”

Yumeno clicked her tongue, probably upset that her magic was being compared to a fictional story, but she didn’t remark on it. Maybe she just couldn’t be bothered. Shirogane didn’t seem to notice her annoyance, at least, rambling on without an end, barely taking any breaths between sentences. Speaking about her passion was clearly highly enjoyable for her.

Hoping to ease the tension between the two, Saihara timidly interrupted, clearing his throat.

“T-thank you, Yumeno. For explaining it, I mean.”

She only nodded, expression uncaring, so Saihara backed off after a quick goodbye. Taking a couple of steps back before turning around, he almost walked into a very pissed off Tenko, who’d just stormed past him without a word. Ouma giggling in the same spot Saihara had last seen him in - except on the floor this time, holding his head -, Saihara could easily guess what had happened.

Walking up to him with a sigh, he stared down at the giddy boy, offering him a hand. Ouma accepting it, Saihara had been about to pull him up when Ouma flashed him a grin, suddenly yanking him down onto the floor as well. Landing next to Ouma with a soft thud and a high-pitched yelp, Saihara’s hat slipped off. Picking it up, Ouma placed it on his own head, before putting on a serious expression.

“Good afternoon, Ouma” he said in a soft voice, shyly peering at Saihara from under the hat. “What brings you here?”

Saihara sent him a flat look, and Ouma snickered again, before placing the hat back on his head.

“Admit it; that was pretty good” he grinned, seemingly without a care that Tenko had just smashed him into the floor. “But anyway, did you manage to ask Yumeno about it? I’d hate to know I sacrificed myself for nothing, you know!”

Saihara nodded with a sigh, fixing the lopsided placement of the hat. Ouma pushed himself to his feet, helping Saihara up this time. Once Saihara gave him a brief summary, Ouma broke out in a mischievous smile, folding his arms behind his back.

“Just as I thought, then” he nodded to himself.

“Just as you thought…?” Saihara echoed, unsure of how to react to that. He had a feeling that there was something Ouma wasn’t telling him, but he didn’t seem to be willing to share, instead waving his hand with a wink and heading back to his desk to get his lunch out. Would there even be any point in asking him? Probably not. Ouma was still Ouma; he wasn't going to stop playing pranks at every opportunity.

Saihara just hoped it wouldn't end badly.

\------------------------------------

A hand touching his back, Saihara almost let out a scream, managing to stop himself just before everyone around him got suspicious. Reaching behind him and managing to grab and invisible hand, he broke out in a run, leaving a very confused Momota and Amami behind, heading towards the storage room. Once he managed to close the door behind him, leaning against it while trying to catch his breath, he let go of Kiibo’s hand, only for him to become visible again, looking rather… agitated.

“Did something happen?” Saihara’s first reaction was to worry of course - with good reason too, considering everything that’s happened until now -, but Kiibo quickly composed himself once he saw Saihara’s expression.

“Ah, I apologise, I… may have overreacted a little” he bowed his head slightly, flustered. “There _is_ something I wish to talk to you about, but it can wait if you’re occupied with something.”

Saihara let out a small sigh of relief, his shoulders dropping.

“Y-yeah, maybe this wasn’t the best approach…” he placed his hands on his hips, letting himself relax temporarily. Kiibo sheepishly nodded, and Saihara added with a raise of his brow: “But if you wanna talk about something, you can. I wasn’t really in the middle of anything, either way.”

“Well, you see…” Kiibo fidgeted a little, seemingly looking for the right words. “I was wondering if you knew where they keep unfinished projects by students, by any chance. I doubt they would simply throw them away…”

Saihara had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“Did you remember something else?”

Kiibo nodded.

“I cannot remember anything too specific” he hesitated a little, “but I do know that I have been working on something… very important. I do not believe I ever managed to finish it, and something about this fact just makes me feel… uneasy.”

Well, that was certainly _something_. Saihara’s breath hitched in his throat a little as he examined everything this could mean and all the scenarios it could lead up to. It was good news, that much he was sure of - having more information couldn’t possibly be a bad thing -, but he wasn’t sure how he should handle this right now; the talk he had with Yumeno had confused him too much. Obviously, he was going to look into this… but what then? What would they do afterwards?

As he opened his mouth to finally say something, the door behind him suddenly opened, and he stumbled backwards right into someone else, a pair of hands pushing his back to stop him from falling any further. As he was carefully shoved back into the room - with just a little more force than necessary, although he was sure that bit was unintentional -, the door was closed again, and he turned to see Momota behind him, Amami a couple steps away. His head slowly turning in the other direction again, he realised something.

Kiibo was visible, and neither Momota nor Amami were saying anything.

\------------------------------------

“So…” Amami took a deep breath, lifting his palms to gesture for Saihara to let him talk for a bit, after he himself rambled on for quite a while. Momota, uncharacteristically silent, followed the conversation without many contributions so far, still looking very much stunned. Well, Saihara didn’t blame him. “Let me get this straight. A… _ghost_ is haunting your room, and you are not only on good terms with it- or rather, him” Amami cleared his throat, “but you are also in a relationship.”

Saihara and Kiibo both blushed a little at that, before they nodded simultaneously. Amami massaged his temples, brows slightly furrowed, having obvious difficulty trying to wrap his head around the situation. Momota, on the other hand, was probably going to blow up any second now, like a volcano.

“That is… not something I thought I’d hear anytime soon” Amami dropped his hands, to give Saihara a drained look. “I don’t even know what to say. Is this even real? Am I hallucinating? Am I just having a really vivid fever dream? Did Iruma poison me, is that it?”

Before he could continue rambling, Momota slapped him on the back hard enough for him to go into a coughing fit, apparently having gotten over his shock without having to yell about it. Refreshing. Momota Kaito was a gift; Saihara thanked the heavens.

“Don’t pass out on us now” Momota grinned, Amami sending him an incredulous look. “We’ve seen weirder stuff.”

“I… I don’t think I have, actually-“

“Anyway” Momota cut him off loudly, “let’s just chill out for now. I think it’s pretty cool, if anything!”

That was a _little_ strange way to react, but Saihara wasn’t complaining. Pushing his hat up a little so his entire face would be visible, he inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Now that you two know about this… I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a rlly big exam this friday and i want death


	25. Are we really doing this again?

“Are you sure this is a good idea…?”

It wasn’t, but Saihara felt the need to ask that anyway.

“Relax, we’ve done this before. What could go wrong?” Momota’s cheerful tone was a sharp contrast to Saihara’s own worried, slightly panicked one, while Amami’s composed, cautious attitude was right in the middle of the scale. Well, neither of the two was anything new, but what _was_ something that Saihara couldn’t believe on the other hand, was that they were sneaking into the school at night for the _second_ time, and upon Amami’s suggestion as well.

Saihara didn’t mean for it to come to this, he really didn’t. All he did was tell them what Kiibo had told him, and asked to see if they knew any way to find out where they kept old students’ leftover belongings. The first thing they did was ask the teachers, of course, but they could only affirm their suspicions that they did indeed keep everything - they couldn’t give out any specifics. Amami, on the other hand, with his ridiculous talent, had apparently overheard a conversation between two teachers right after, discussing if they should find a new place for all the old stuff after all.

So here they were, Amami taking the lead, as usual, walking past classroom after classroom, probably the only one who knew what he was doing. Momota didn’t seem to be too concerned; actually, he seemed almost more casual than last time, despite what had happened. On one hand, it was definitely reassuring to not have more people freaking out around him, but on the other hand… he was a little concerned whether the other two would be careful enough. Especially Momota.

Some kind of rustling noise coming from a corner, Saihara almost had a heart attack as a cat suddenly leapt at them, only to be caught by Hoshi, wearing what appeared to be his sleepwear. Before any of them could say anything, Amami raised both of his hands to quiet the two boys behind him, flashlight shone at the ceiling in the process.

“We didn’t see anything.”

Hoshi stared at them silently for a bit before nodding his head, then walking past them, carrying the cat away. Saihara resisted the urge to turn his head and watch him disappear through the hallway, instead glancing at Amami incredulously.

“D-did you know about his cat… problem? You don’t seem very surprised.”

Amami only smiled, resuming walking.

Ascending some stairs, Saihara, afraid that he would trip and fall in the dark, followed Amami closely enough not to see where they were going, and ended up walking right in front of him as soon as he came to a stop. Stumbling backwards a little, he caught his hat before it fell off, Amami patiently waiting for him to regain his balance, unfazed.

“Okay, now we just need to get this open…” Amami glanced at the door in front of them. Momota stepped forward, flashing his bicep before Amami quickly held his arm out, only a little panicked. “A-alright, alright, there’s no need for drastic measures. I have a key.”

Saihara had no idea where he’d gotten it from, but Amami didn’t seem like he was willing to tell - he did this a lot, now that Saihara thought about it… Knowing about things he wasn’t supposed to, stuff like that… But he wasn’t going to question him _now_ of all times, not in the middle of… whatever this was.

Amami slowly opening the door, they stuck their heads inside one by one, peering into what appeared to be some sort of storage - bigger than the storage room they’d been to before, with a lot more free space. Boxes stood along each wall of various shapes and sizes, some of them massive enough to reach the ceilings, others small enough to fit in someone’s palm. Snapping his fingers, Amami’s smile widened.

“Bingo.”

Momota was the second one to step inside, after Amami, turning his head with a lengthy whistle, impressed.

“Damn, there’s a lot more stuff than I’d expected…” knocking on the side of an especially large box, he turned to the other two. “So, what, are we just gonna look through all of them one by one?”

Amami looked to Saihara, but he didn’t really know how to respond to that. Him and Kiibo had both agreed that the latter should stay in Saihara’s room; they didn’t want even more people finding out by accident. They got lucky with Amami and Momota, considering they were both friends of Saihara, but who knows what’d happen if someone like Angie got word of the whole thing. It probably wouldn’t end too well… so they should focus on avoiding risks as much as possible. That also meant that they couldn’t use him to help them find what they were looking for, though, which made things a tad complicated.

As Momota tripped over a smaller pile of boxes, Saihara let out a sigh.

\------------------------------------

“Found anything that looks like it could be it yet?”

Throwing a cracked frying pan back where it came from, Momota shook his head - Saihara cringed a little at the sound of it, almost dropping the bag of flower seeds he’d fished out from underneath a folded up, stained lab coat. Amami, at least, seemed to be finding useful objects. Not very useful for their current plan, more than likely, but in general, his findings leaned more towards cute little toys and mostly intact clothing articles, rather than the weird garbage Saihara and Momota found for the most part.

Saihara moved onto the next box with a sigh, Momota examining some kind of weirdly shaped kitchen utensil next to him, and was already reaching for the next one, when he spotted something: some kind of a stereo, half of it in pieces inside the box. This more than likely wasn’t it, but it _was_ an electronic device, at least, so hopefully they were finally getting somewhere. Reaching inside the box with his entire arm this time, he brushed his hand along the side blindly until he found the nametag stuck to the side of it, then illuminated it with his cellphone. As he thought - some student’s name that he’d never heard of… but it was worth a shot.

Carefully pushing the box to the side, he opened another one, this time pulling out… a very suspiciously shaped object. As Amami glanced towards him, Saihara immediately dropped it back inside with a yelp, Momota almost tripping over himself behind him, startled. Amami raised a brow, but instead of questioning what Saihara was doing, held up his index finger in front of his mouth, shushing them both. Saihara sent him an apologetic look, resuming his search.

Once he’d gone through 2 more boxes with similar contents, he moved on to the biggest one yet - he’d been checking the ones around it beforehand, considering just the box itself was his height already, and he didn’t want to break whatever was inside of it by tipping it over by accident. Standing on his tiptoes, he somehow managed to get the top to open, and began carefully pulling the sides apart - preferring to have to put it back together again afterwards, rather than just push the thing onto the floor and hope for the best. As he slowly freed whatever had been inside of it, his eyes widened. He might have just found it.

“Holy-“ Momota bit back a swear, standing right behind Saihara, staring at the box’s contents, impressed; Amami, hearing that, turned his head as well, his hand freezing mid-air. In front of Saihara appeared to be some kind of robot, or what Saihara guessed was a robot, at least. The majority of the wiring and whatnot still uncovered, it was definitely unfinished, but even now Saihara could tell how much skill it would take to put together something like this.

Reading the nametag, his suspicions were confirmed; they found what they’d been looking for.

“Just what you’d expect from a Super High School Level, huh…?” Amami’s voice came from the side as he peered over Saihara’s shoulder to examine it. “Question is: what should we do with it? Try and somehow sneak it outside, or…?”

Good question; Saihara had to admit he didn’t think that far ahead, seeing as how he’d been busy trying his best to keep his composure under control instead. They couldn’t possibly just drag it into his room, could they…? They didn’t really have any other locations that could work, that wouldn’t get easily found out…

The door creaked open.

“What’s this, what’s this? What’s happening over here?”

Almost punching Saihara in the face as he whizzed around - the latter just barely managing to dodge it - with a high-pitched scream, Momota shined the flashlight on the door with shaky hands, knocking the breath out of Amami as he hit him straight on the back in the process. While Amami was bent over, having a coughing fit, Saihara and Momota stared at Ouma leaning against the doorframe, beaming, a cellphone in his hand. Giving himself a small push, he leisurely walked up to the trio, arms crossed behind his head.

“You guys didn’t invite me? I’m hurt!” instead of doing his usual fake crying, though, his smile only widened. “Although I did invite myself, so I guess it’s fine after all.”

“Ouma, are you fu-“ Amami, clearly very done with him by this point, cut himself off, taking a deep breath to regain his temper. “May I ask what you’re doing here _in the middle of the night_?”

Cutting back a little on the smug attitude before Amami flattened him into a pancake, Ouma tilted his head with a smile.

“The same thing you guys are doing! Helping out our resident ghost boy” he giggled softly. “In fact, I happen to have just what you need right now! Care to guess what it is?”

Unlike Amami, who was normally on good terms with Ouma and had managed to calm down relatively quickly, Momota grinded his teeth, and Saihara swallowed nervously. Ouma really had a death wish, didn’t he…? Sensing that the other two weren’t exactly in the perfect state to talk, Saihara took the task upon himself.

“Have you found a place where we could keep this until we decide what to do with it?” Saihara gestured at the robot, and Ouma happily nodded.

“Yep, yep. Saihara, you’re so smart!” ignoring the other two, he dangled a keychain, spinning it around on a finger. “I booked you guys a trip to Iruma’s lab, so you better be grateful.”

Blinking, Saihara took a moment to respond.

“You did what…?”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it! I made her promise not to tell anyone else” Ouma said cheerfully, before remembering something. “Well, except for Akamatsu, anyway. But she wouldn’t tell anybody.”

Saihara couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Burying his face in his hands, he let out the longest groan he possibly could, resisting the urge to bang his head against a wall, before dropping his hands back down and straightening up, gaze piercing Ouma’s own.

“Listen, I don’t care what reason you have for it, but you _absolutely_ cannot tell anyone else about this” in the harshest tone he could possibly muster, he continued. “Nobody. Understood?”

Ouma’s expression shifting into a serious one, he stayed quiet for a few seconds.

“I know that. But you guys would have had to ask Iruma sooner or later, anyway.”

Slowly exhaling, Saihara felt his temporary anger gradually fade, and he relaxed his posture a little, narrowing his eyes at the shorter boy.

“Please don’t do something like this again.”

Ouma nodded with a shrug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhh im sorry this is very late, i was really busy this week and!! barely had time to even sleep because school is murdering me rn


	26. The inventor's passion knows no bounds

Saihara was pretty sure he could count on one hand the amount of times he’d seen Iruma like this. Eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed, breathing heavily, she circled around the half-finished robot rapidly, touching it all over, despite Saihara’s best efforts to get her to stop. Well, to be fair, his best effort was a really stern warning… which Iruma currently seemed to be immune to, too excited to pay attention to anything but the machine in front of her. Kaede, standing on the side sheepishly, gave Saihara an apologetic smile, to which he only sighed. He should’ve known this would happen.

Once Amami and Momota helped him carry the robot to Iruma’s lab, Saihara thanked them then sent them to bed, not wanting to be any more of a bother. Ouma, he tried to as well, but he only responded with a cheeky grin, plopping down on a chair and crossing his legs leisurely. Iruma would’ve probably chased him off, normally, but seeing as how she was currently occupied, Ouma was free to lounge around as much as he wanted.

“Hey, Saihara!”

Startled, Saihara whizzed around at an alarming speed, coming face to face with a very demanding-looking Iruma.

“Can I finish this? That’s why you brought it here, yeah!?” Despite her intimidating glare, she was wearing a giddy smile, like a child opening a birthday present. Saihara supposed it must have been something like that to her, anyway, considering how crazy she could go over gadgets and whatnot. Taking a step back to get her out of his personal space, he cleared his throat.

“Uhm, about that… I don’t think I’m the one you should be asking” he took another step back after Iruma followed him. She furrowed her brows slightly.

“Oh, yeah, that one ghost pal of yours” she said it so casually; Saihara had to wonder if she was still too distraught to properly focus on anything. “Well, then ask him for me, will you? It’s the least you can do in exchange of me letting you borrow my lab, you know!” placing her hands on her hips, she puffed out her chest smugly, staring at Saihara with narrowed eyes.

“Y-yeah, I know” Saihara raised his hands defensively, flashing Iruma a polite smile. “I’d like to bring him here regardless, so you’ll have the opportunity to ask him yourself.”

“Sweet!” Iruma pumped her fist into the air before turning on her heels and running up to Kaede, clearly very excited. “Akamatsu, Akamatsu, did you hear that!? Ohh, this is great!”

Kaede tilted her head with a smile, letting Iruma clasp her hands with stars in her eyes.

“That’s great, I’m very happy for you, _Miu!”_ she giggled softly. “But please make sure not to bother Saihara and his friend too much, alright?”

Going a little red at her first name being used, Iruma’s attitude shifted to one of flustered, and she twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she bashfully averted her gaze.

“O-of course I won’t, I’ll back off if he doesn’t agree to it…”

Kaede beamed, lifting a hand to pet her on the head, Iruma’s blush only deepening.

“Good luck, though. I hope Kiibo gives you permission, _dear._ ”

Ouma snickered, covering his mouth with a hand, as Iruma let out some kind of high-pitched squeak, pressing her hands to her cheeks to cool them slightly, Kaede watching with an amused, but also fond expression.

“Also, I told you you could use my first name as well, didn’t I?” not minding Saihara at all, she softly pecked Iruma’s cheek, and Saihara had to turn his head away, quite flustered himself. Kaede went all out once she got comfortable, huh? Iruma, looking like she was about to implode, covered her face and quickly fled the scene, shouting something about ‘needing some fresh air’. Kaede didn’t bother trying to stop her, instead only puffing her cheeks a little, turning to Saihara.

He swallowed audibly.

“Geez, I remind her every time, but she always dodges the topic…” seemingly sulking, she kind of resembled a disgruntled hamster. Saihara’s lips twitched into an anxious smile.

“She’s just embarrassed about it, isn’t she?”

He could sympathize with that.

Kaede gave a small sigh, posture gradually relaxing, her hands dropping next to her sides again.

“I know… It would just be nice” she shrugged her shoulders, playing with her hair. Her eyes suddenly lighting up, she looked at Saihara curiously. “Say, does Kiibo call you by your first name?”

Saihara could practically _feel_ Ouma tensing up behind him, and quickly shook his head. Kaede seemed somewhat disappointed, but Saihara didn’t want to push his luck… besides, he wasn’t as comfortable as her, when it came to discussing things like that. He was still rather shy about relationships, after all.

Besides, he had more important things to be focusing on right now… like getting back to his room without getting caught, for one. As such, after requesting that Kaede thank Iruma for him one last time, he waved her bye, heading towards the door. Ouma, who’s been suspiciously silent this entire time, stood up as well, running ahead and opening the door for Saihara with a grin.

“Ladies first, Saihara” he bowed slightly.

Kaede snickered.

\------------------------------------

Opening the door to his room, having managed to sneak around without being spotted by anybody, Saihara quickly stepped inside, shutting it behind him and leaning against it with a deep sigh. Kiibo, having gotten used to him doing that recently, stayed where he was on the bed, petting Patches softly.

“Welcome back” he greeted Saihara with a smile, to which Saihara gave a small nod, slowly sliding to the floor. “How did it go, if I may ask?”

Sitting with his back against the door, Saihara raised his head, letting his posture relax.

“We found what we need, I’m pretty sure. Iruma is holding onto it for us, so we don’t need to worry about it getting thrown out” he explained, before remembering to mention something else. “Oh, also… Ouma told Iruma and Akamatsu. Just so you know.”

Kiibo frowned, clearly really wanting to go on a rant again, but resisted, aware that Saihara had a pretty good idea of what he would’ve said anyway. Instead, he carefully placed the cat to the side, before floating up to Saihara, holding out his hand. Saihara let Kiibo pull him to his feet, grabbing his sleepwear and preparing to change in the bathroom, before Kiibo stopped him for a short moment.

“By the way… I have a question. W-well, it is more of a request, I suppose, but…” fumbling for words, Kiibo seemed strangely bashful, enough for Saihara to feel a little nervous about what he was going to ask. Fidgeting, a light blush dusting his cheeks, Kiibo averted his gaze. “Could I perhaps… call you by your first name?”

The timing of that… an unremarkable coincidence, to say the least. Staring silently for a while, Saihara couldn’t help but wonder what prompted Kiibo to think of something like that. Realising that Kiibo was starting to get kind of restless, though, he figured he should give an answer.

“Y-you can, yeah… Why so suddenly, though?”

Kiibo shyly lifted a book that Saihara didn’t recognise; a romance novel, from what he could tell. Where did Kiibo get something like that…? It didn’t belong to Saihara, that was sure.

“One of your friends gave me this…” Kiibo started, voice a little small. “I have been using it for research purposes, and… it has made me wonder about this. I… would like to experience the intimacy that comes from first name basis. So, if it is not a problem, I would prefer to refer to you as… S-Shuuichi.”

Saihara’s heart did a little jump, his chest filling with some strange kind of giddiness. Even if Kiibo ended up stuttering - which, honestly, just made it sound even more endearing -, he couldn’t help but feel really happy about it. Lips stretching into a gentle smile, he pressed a soft kiss to Kiibo’s cheek, causing the other boy to become even more flustered.

“O-of course it’s not a problem… don’t worry about it.”

Kiibo nodded timidly, before floating off to hide for a little while, Saihara staring after him with a somewhat dazed look.

Alright, now, time to go to bed and think about that for the entire night and then thank whoever gave that to Kiibo later.

\------------------------------------

Iruma letting out a panicked screech, Kaede trying to shush her from behind, Saihara watched the chaos unfold relatively calmly, Kiibo helplessly flailing his arms, as though that’d help her calm down. Well, this was to be expected. Kaede likely prepared herself ahead of time, but Iruma was a hothead, and one quite easily terrified, at that, so Saihara supposed he should’ve anticipated this kind of reaction, even if she knew about it ahead of time.

“M-Miu, please calm down…!” Kaede pulled on Iruma’s sleeve, and she instantly shut up, only staring with her eyes wide, mouth still open. Well, it was an improvement over the deafening screaming, at least. The relief clear in her eyes, she let go of Iruma, giving Saihara and Kiibo an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I told her to be ready. I guess she just didn’t familiarize herself with the idea enough.”

Clinging to Kaede as though it was the only thing tying her to this world, Iruma hiccupped.

“I… apologise for scaring you” Kiibo, trying his best to sound reassuring, floated a little further to let Iruma calm down a little. He seemed kind of… sad, but Saihara couldn’t really blame him. Iruma lifted her head with tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, extending a shaking arm and pointing at Kiibo.

“I’m n-not scared of y-you, you know! I’m n-not!” upset by the accusation, she huffed, and Kiibo’s lips twitched into a tiny smile. That was a little better.

Kaede, hoping to lighten the atmosphere a little, turned to Kiibo.

“Ah, by the way, uhm… Kiibo? I believe Miu had something to ask of you” she pushed Iruma forward lightly, as though trying to encourage her, and Iruma slowly stopped clinging to her to carefully lift her head, looking up at Kiibo.

“Oh, did she?” Kiibo’s gaze shifted to Iruma curiously. “How may I help you…?”

Iruma, playing with her hair, spoke in a rather small voice.

“U-uhm… I w-was wondering if… I c-could do some w-work with… y-your project…” taking quite a while to say all of that, she hid her face behind her hands, Kaede patting her back and then looking to Kiibo once more.

“You don’t have to agree to it if you don’t want to, of course” she added just in case, and Kiibo nodded, not giving a proper response just yet, instead frowning slightly. Saihara, not wanting to get too involved, considering this was Kiibo’s decision to make and not his, only stood on the side, adjusting his hat. Iruma wouldn’t throw a hissy fit anyway, especially not like this.

After a pretty long amount of silence, Kiibo spoke again, tone somewhat uncertain, but expression resolute.

“I… would allow it, yes. But I would also like to work on it himself. So if having to cooperate suits your needs, then by all means, go ahead.”

Iruma seemed to cheer up, managing a shaky grin.

“H-hell yeah, t-that’s perfect! I don’t m-mind sharing!” she exclaimed, her trembling voice making it look slightly comedic as she fist pumped the air. Kiibo appeared to be relieved, giving her a small smile as well.

“Please be careful with it, that’s all I ask.”

Rapidly nodding her head, Iruma gave him a thumbs up.

“Sure thing, Kiibaby!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *yells* hi im jamie and im dying from exams *passes out*


	27. I wonder, do you know me at all?

Swinging his legs back and forth on the chair he’d dropped down on, he stared at the whiteboard in front of him, gaze boring into it so intensely it was as though he was trying to drill a hole into it. Slowly lifting the marker that he’d used to scribble everything else, he began drawing a cutesy doodle of himself in the corner, humming to himself as he worked. The time was rather late - he glanced at the clock to confirm that it was nighttime before he stood up, dusting off his pants, placing the marker down for the time being.

Taking one last glance at the whiteboard, his violet eyes narrowed ever so slightly, reading the familiar list of notes under photographs over and over again until his gaze stopped on a particular one. No photograph or proper name, only a nickname listed - his pride didn’t allow for him to show respect by using his full name, even though he was very aware of it, so he had simply decided to use the name Saihara had been referring to him as.

Truth be told, he wasn’t exactly mad. He really had no idea to describe what he was feeling - maybe bitter jealousy would be the most accurate way to describe it. Turning his head away so he could focus on the task at hand instead, he walked towards the door, placing a hand on the handle. Nobody should be out at this time - he’d been careful about picking his timing, after all. Sticking his head outside and gazing across the empty hallway, he finally stepped out of his room, closing the door behind him. After a few more seconds of silently standing around, he began walking in the direction of the classrooms, steps gradually lighter and lighter.

He’d done this many times before - although even if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been afraid -, and he most likely would’ve been easily able to navigate throughout the school eve without using a light. He wasn’t stupid, though, and seeing as how he would’ve rather avoided walking into a chair or anything similar, he lit the way up with his cellphone.

Taking the longest route possible, he took his time getting around, even stopping every once in a while at certain locations. The storage where he had followed Saihara and listened to Yumeno’s babbling about magic. The closet Momota, Saihara, and Amami had hid inside when they realised they were about to be found. The teacher’s office - where he’d spent several hours trying to look for information on Iidabashi Tetsuya. They were all special - and they were all connected to Saihara, in a way. Placing his hand on the wall and dragging it across as he passed by another classroom, he let out a sigh so soft not even someone standing right next to him would have picked up on it.

What would Saihara think if he confessed to doing this? Would he laugh at his childish habit? Would he think less of him, being unable to handle such a simple situation without throwing a fit about it? Or… perhaps, would he feel flattered, that he cares about him so much that he had to resort to silly measures like this to even bear the thought of Saihara feeling this way towards someone else - someone that wasn’t him.

Well, he wasn’t going to tell him anyway. It would be pointless, after all.

Finally arriving at the usual classroom, he pushed the door open, closing it behind him without bothering to be quiet. Walking up to his desk at the back, he stared down at it with a blank expression before placing his hand on top of it, slowly brushing his palm across the wood, blurring a couple of doodles he’d made during class. Pulling his hand back, he took a brief look around - nobody nearby. Good. That meant he didn’t have to be careful.

Raising his leg, he swung it at the chair by the desk, swiftly knocking it over. Next up was the desk - it made a lot more sound, and he was pretty sure he made at least one crack in it somewhere. Once he finished examining the damages, kneeling, he moved to another desk, hopping on top of it this time, then moving onto another one, doing his best not to touch the floor. Reaching the specific seat he was looking for, he finally hopped down, sending Amami’s desk tumbling to the ground, not even bothering to fix it up.

He first sat down in the chair, back straight, hands in his lap, staring straight at the blackboard. Placing an elbow on top, he rested his chin in his hand, putting on a serious expression as he reached up to adjust his imaginary hat.

“You should pay attention in class, Ouma” he spoke in a quiet, reserved voice, before suddenly putting on a bright smile, leaning back in the chair. “But it’s sooo boring, Saihara! How can you expect me to pay attention like this?”

Getting bored of playing charades already, his shoulders dropped with a sigh, although he remained seated. Before, it was almost like he had too much energy, feeling constantly restless, but sitting in Saihara’s place… it wasn’t so bad, even if he had to stay mostly still for it. He ran his fingers over the desk over and over again, marveling at how spotless it was compared to his own - not a single doodle or mark of any kind, just a plain old desk at Hope’s Peak. Saihara really was neat after all…

If only Saihara could spend more time scolding him… If only he’d just use that neatness of his to focus on him instead… He’d always helped Saihara out before, he’d even given that dumb book to Amami so he could assist Kiibo, surely he deserved at least this much-

Standing up again, he turned his head towards the door. He should leave now, it was about time. Fixing the desks and chairs back to their standard positions, he took one last glance at Saihara’s desk before exiting through the door.

\------------------------------------

Peering inside the classroom, Ouma perked up when he spotted his target - Saihara was talking to Momota, the two of them sat in their respective seats, Momota laughing carelessly, Saihara seemingly shaking his head in disbelief. Perfect; they didn’t look like they were discussing anything important. Skipping up to them rather casually, Ouma beamed.

“Morning! Saihara, did you sleep well?” ignoring Momota completely, he tilted his head as he examined Saihara from up close, looking for any signs of sleep deprivation. Ever since he fell asleep in class that one time, Ouma made sure to check every day. Saihara wouldn’t do something like that on purpose, after all! If he was sleeping in class, that was already cause for concern.

A little uncomfortable by Ouma getting so close, but obviously used to it by now, Saihara adjusted his hat to cover his face more, to Ouma’s dismay.

“Good morning” Saihara gave him a polite, but rather drained-looking smile. “I went to bed early for a change today, so yes, I slept well. How about you?”

He seemed to be telling the truth - Ouma nodded cheerfully.

“Yep, like a rock! Actually, I almost overslept this morning because of how fast asleep I was!”

Despite it being a blatant lie, Saihara didn’t seem to notice anything, and Ouma’s smile widened. Momota sending a glare in his direction, Ouma stuck his tongue out for a moment, clearly intent on handling this as immaturely as possible, and they were probably on the verge of breaking out in some childish argument when Saihara stood up, standing between the two, pushing Momota back gently before he ended up punching Ouma. Ouma’s eyes sparkled.

Resuming with the small talk, he wondered if he could talk to Saihara one-on-one anytime soon. Probably not, just based on how _annoyingly_ clingy Momota was being. And then Amami… He was sitting in his own seat for now, revising before class, but Ouma was sure he’d speak up sooner or later; if not now, then during break. He clicked his tongue in frustration, giving Saihara a lighthearted smile when he shot him a questioning look. Whatever, he could wait.

Once the bell had rang, he reluctantly walked back to his seat, sitting down on his chair - as it creaked much louder than usual, half the class turned towards him, and he smirked mischievously as though he’d done it on purpose. After everybody had turned back - Saihara’s gaze lingering to longest, to Ouma’s pleasure - his eyes strayed to the chair’s legs, hands gingerly touching them. Fingers brushing past a crack, he froze. He must’ve missed that last night. Carefully straightening his back to take a bit of weight off the leg in question, he slowly hunched forward, upper body sprawled out on top of the desk.

\------------------------------------

He woke up to find he’d dozed off in class yet again - nobody around him had really cared enough to notice, and he straightened up with a sly grin, stretching his back. Catching up on sleep in class really was the best. Class had just ended as well, so he was able to stand up and march over to the detective, grabbing onto his sleeve and tugging on it while whining childishly.

“Saiharaaa, come with me! I have something to tell you…!”

The other boy stared at him helplessly for a little while, clearly hesitant, so Ouma took hold of his wrist instead, pulling on it with a grin this time..

“Saihara, come oooon! I promise it won’t take long!”

With a reluctant sigh, Saihara’s shoulders lowered, and he gave a small nod.

“Alright, but… please make sure we get back before next period.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll just be a minute!” Puffing his cheeks out, starting to resemble a child throwing a tantrum, Ouma began dragging him towards the door, Saihara stumbling after him. Not stopping until they reached the familiar storage room again, Ouma pushed him inside, before entering as well and closing the door carefully. Looking a little suspicious of him, Saihara nervously adjusted his hat.

“So…? What do you want to talk to me about, then?”

Swaying on his feet for a moment, Ouma approached him with a sinister smirk, hunching his back a little and peering at him from underneath. He wondered if he should be straightforward for a change. Saihara was quite smart, though, so… maybe there was no need for that in this case. Smirk widening, he reached out with a hand to lift Saihara’s hat a bit, face mere inches from Saihara’s own.

“Don’t always obey the rules of the game.”

And with that, Ouma Kokichi laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i!! apologise for the delay, some stuff came up suddenly,,, ;w; but in other news, there should only be one more chapter after this, unless i decide to write an epilogue, so pls rest assured that im not,, dropping this no matter what


	28. A final touch

Staring at the ceiling, hat placed on his nightstand, Saihara’s hand twitched. He glanced over at the clock - almost nighttime, and he still couldn’t sleep. He let out a sigh, closing his eyes once more. He didn’t think it’d feel this lonely to sleep by himself, after getting used to Kiibo’s presence every single time before. He shouldn’t be complaining, he knew that - Kiibo was busy working, after all -, but he couldn’t stop his heart from sinking a little when he recalled that Iruma must be having the time of her life.

Sitting up slowly, he was just about to climb out of bed when the door creaked open, Kiibo floating inside. Saihara perked up, giving him a weak smile, waiting for him to come closer, and Kiibo did so without further ado, wrapping his arms around him and encasing him in a tight hug. Saihara’s heart fluttered.

“…Tired…” mumbled Kiibo, nuzzling his head into the crook of Saihara’s neck. ‘Drained’ was probably closer to what he meant, but Saihara didn’t mind - returning the hug, he stroked Kiibo’s back gently, voice soft.

“I missed you…”

Kiibo only seemed to cling to him tighter after that, and Saihara’s smile gradually grew, holding him close as though his life was depending on it. Lifting a hand to caress his head, Kiibo seemed to practically melt in his arms for a moment, before drawing back slightly so he could shyly peck Saihara’s cheek. Flustered, Saihara averted his gaze, a faint blush starting to appear, and Kiibo flashed him a nervous, but pleased smile.

“I apologise… I did not think I would end up staying for so long.”

Closing his eyes for a moment to regain his composure, Saihara exhaled subtly.

“It’s okay… You don’t have to apologise. I know that it’s important for you” trying his best to sound encouraging, he still couldn’t stop the warmth spreading through his chest at the thought of Kiibo hurrying back for his sake.

“That… is true, yes, but…” Kiibo seemed to hesitate for a moment, bashfully peering at Saihara, his blush deepening. “…You are just as important to me, Shuuichi.”

Saihara felt his face heat up even more, partially due to the first name usage, and partially due to what Kiibo said itself, and had to hold himself back from reaching for his hat and hiding his face behind it. Overcome with all these feelings so suddenly, he opened his mouth without really thinking first.

“I love you…”

Kiibo’s reaction wasn’t much better as he buried his face in Saihara’s shoulder to mask his embarrassment somewhat over Saihara blurting it out so casually.

“I… love you too…”

Saihara’s heart skipped a beat.

They stayed in the same position for a while, content with the comfortable silence, Kiibo only pulling away once Saihara’s cellphone buzzed.

“You should sleep. It’s rather late” he gestured at the clock, wearing a slight, concerned frown, and Saihara slowly nodded. The uncomfortable feeling was gone for now, so he would probably be fine. Picking up his phone first as Kiibo floated away to greet Patches, he checked the message he got first. Ouma…?

“keep what i said in mind”

Such a lazy style of typing… Well, Saihara should’ve expected that. The only thing missing was some funny looking kaomoji from the end, and it would’ve fit Ouma perfectly. Still, he wondered what that could’ve meant. He was sure he knew what Ouma was referring to - how could he forget Ouma dragging him across the school just to say some cryptic sentence and vanish right after -, but he only had some faint ideas about what he was trying to tell him with that. _Of course_ Ouma wasn’t going to be upfront about it, though - he should’ve known. Not that being aware of that made his job any easier.

Placing his phone back down, he glanced back at Kiibo.

“How’s working with Iruma, by the way?”

Kiibo raised his head, having been focusing on diligently petting the cat, and spent a few seconds thinking about it before he answered, visibly having a bit of trouble with the phrasing.

“Iruma is… interesting, I suppose. While she is somewhat strange” he admitted, “her skills as an inventor are admirable, and I feel honored to be working aside her.”

Just about what he expected to hear, if Saihara had to be honest. He was sure ‘somewhat strange’ wasn’t even scratching the surface, but Kiibo wasn’t one to talk about people behind their backs - unless he was scolding them -, and he was much, much too polite to even come close to badmouthing somebody. Not that that was a problem, really - if anything, it was refreshing from the blunt way Momota always tended to put things.

“We are making quite a good amount of progress” Kiibo continued, pausing for a moment, as though he was about to say something important. “I have been able to recall more and more details as well. Although… it makes me feel a little ashamed of my old self.”

Saihara raised a brow at that - Kiibo sounded like he was making a confession of some sort.

“Why is that?” he asked, Kiibo frowning slightly before he responded.

“I… wanted to make my father proud. As such, I did everything I could to polish my talent as much as possible. As you can see…” he gestured at himself with a sigh, “it ended me in quite the trouble.”

He leaned a little back to stare at the ceiling, Patches not at all disturbed upon being lifted even higher.

“The night I died… I was exhausted from trying so hard. I disregarded my own health for the sake of trying to surpass my limits, and it cost me my life. I regret not taking more time to appreciate the simple things, I suppose.”

Patches purred in his lap as he said that as if on cue, rolling over.

“And… I regret not taking the time to make friends. Proper friends, I mean” he closed his eyes. “But it’s a little late for this now, is it not?”

Placing the cat down to its surprise, he floated back to Saihara again, practically tackling him in a hug once more.

“…I don’t want to disappear… to just simply cease to exist… This may sound cowardly of me, but…”

He lifted his head to stare into Saihara’s eyes, his piercing, blue gaze even more startlingly beautiful up close.

“I want to stay by your side for longer.”

Saihara sucked in a sharp breath.

The right thing to do would be letting him pass on. He knew that. It was almost like an unwritten rule - spirits had to be put to rest after having their wishes fulfilled. But… was he really okay with that? Letting Kiibo go, just like that?

It wasn’t fair. Him dying so young wasn’t fair. Him growing so close to Saihara only to leave him wasn’t fair. Him having to just disappear without a trace wasn’t fair.

But then…

It was almost like a light bulb lit up in his head.

_Don’t always obey the rules of the game._

\------------------------------------

The weather was hot - that much he could tell from the students around him groaning from the heat, fanning themselves with papers and notebooks as they walked towards their own classrooms. The noise of so many people talking at once was a little disorienting, he had to admit, but he was sure he’d be able to get used to it once again. Ignoring the curious looks thrown his way, he strode past the faculty office, looking for _his_ class.

He wondered if Saihara was already there. Most likely - he was an excellent student, so he was probably also the type to arrive early. What about his friends, then? Would he run into any of them on the way? Would they be surprised, seeing him like this? Possibly. He hadn’t gotten to tell any of them personally, and he wasn’t sure whether Saihara did or not.

Finally coming to a halt in front of the door, he stood still for a moment. Well, this was it. It was now or never. Slowly pulling it open, he stepped inside hesitantly, 14 pairs of eyes instantly boring into him. As he opened his mouth to speak, he was almost knocked to the ground by someone crashing into him from behind - he probably would have been, had he not been heavy enough to withstand the impact.

Turning around, he stared at the newcomer as he rubbed a sore spot on his arm with a grimace for a moment before immediately breaking out in a grin, running past him and rushing to his seat.

“Ouma, I’ve told you before to try and arrive on time” the teacher’s tone was harsh and scolding, but Ouma only stuck his tongue out and she gave up with a dismissive wave and a tired sigh, before glancing at _him_ , only to look turn to the class.

“As you may be aware, you have a new classmate from today on. You may introduce yourself” she gave him a weak, forced smile, as though trying to encourage him, before turning her head to send Ouma a sharp glare once again.

He felt a little nervous, being stared at so intensely.

Porcelain white skin, spiky, yet fluffy hair - a faded gray color, almost blonde -, eyes startlingly bright.

His entire body covered in metal armor, hard and cold to the touch.

He supposed it must have looked a little unusual to most of them - Iruma seemed to be smirking behind her palm, pleased by the attention his appearance was getting. She looked like she was proud.

His eyes met Saihara’s, and the detective’s eyes sparkled as he gave him a gentle, albeit slightly nervous smile, adjusting his hat slightly, most likely a little worried for him.

He turned his back on the class for a moment to grab some chalk and write his name on the blackboard before turning around yet again, posture straight, arms hanging by his sides.

“My name is Kiibo, and I am the Super High School Level Robot. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Saihara’s smile softened, and his posture relaxed with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im,,, sorry if the ending seems rushed?? im not very experienced with longer stories bc i usually never finish them hhhhhh  
> but ye anyway!! finally done, phew,,,, i hope i ended it okay and none of nyall will,, chew me out for my writing .w. im not really planning on writing anything else anytime soon, seeing as how school and friends are keeping me extremely busy, but this was fun to work on at least! its my longest fic so far as well, including ones i havent uploaded  
> hhhh i hope you guys enjoyed the fic tho regardless of the ending itself, thank you for all the nice comments you left me, as well as all the bookmarks and kudos uwu i love u guys no homo <3  
> edit: if you enjoyed this fic, itd be lovely if you could also check out the killing game fic im writing! thank you in advance if you do decide to http://archiveofourown.org/works/11011149/chapters/24533652


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